Jim Torbett: Paedophile who abused young footballers also headed up Celtic’s chain of club shops

The hypocracy of this is blinding. How exactly does harbouring peadophiles stack up against perceived tax avoidance, which at the time wasn’t illegal...yet we are labeled as Scotland’s shame due to it. Surely outwith legal compensation to the victims, there must be some sort of punishment toward this, after all we were ejected and demoted. Oh that’s right...SPFL is ran by their plants.
 
imager said:
1984 Stein made a personal appearance at the Trophy Centre on Kilmarnock Road signing Autographs, two things,

1- why would he appear at Torbetts business if he knew about the abuse

2- in 1984 he was employed by the SFA, surely they can’t now ignore this case as their formed National Coach was being paid by a known Paedophile.
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Point 1 - I believe jock Stein was by a number of accounts an inveterate gambler - money talks
 
ShootYouDown said:
And who used her maiden name ( Dunne) to further muddy the waters
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Yes indeed SYD,wonder if he will call her for an third time,I somehow don’t think she will be a character or buisness witness now.

But what we all want is the crown to start calling folk like her as a witness for them and survivors as to what she see and knew,and her dirty husband.
 
Biggest scandal in sport story just waiting to be fully exposed if there were any decent journalists in Scotland. I agree with the posters who say this scandal has to be reported outside Scotland, it’s the only way the whole truth will come out & victims will get justice.
 
Raffles said:
Good point. Jack McGinn ended up as a director of the trophy centre. It would be a great way to access all the money that was stashed in the biscuit tin over the years wouldn’t it?
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Raffles I stand to be corrected, but I'm sure I read that Kelly resigned as a director of the Trophy Centre when Torbett was convicted, but he was replaced by his wife.
 
grinandbearit said:
Scottish media are complicit in this cover up.
Saville must eventually be exposed as linked
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Probably all too true mate. I remember the press asking an old bank robber why he robbed banks. "That's where the money is init", was his reply. Why did you go to CFC / CBC Jimmy? Now then now then that's where the kids were as it 'appens, he would've said. Truly sickening.
 
Just to add, if they just said "This happened, we accept responsibility and apologise profusely to the victims. We will make a financial settlement with each family and while this won't remove the pain, we hope it can go some way to beginning to alleviate the horror these people suffered", I wouldn't have a problem.

I don't think most of us could fault that.

The fact that they just refuse to engage though to protect their name and their brand, genuinely makes me feel sick. Not because it's Celtic, because it is entirely wrong and no one can disagree with that.
 
Humbug said:
Byline: CHARLES LAVERY Chief Reporter EXCLUSIVE

CELTIC have severed business links with Jim Torbett four years after he was jailed for molesting three young footballers.

The club will not renew a controversial pounds 250,000-a-year contract with a firm linked to the paedophile founder of Celtic Boys' Club.

Celtic chairman Ian McLeod ordered all ties to be cut with the Trophy Centre, in Glasgow, and put the contract out to tender. Club insiders say McLeod was alarmed to discover the club has paid the company more than pounds 1million since millionaire Torbett, 54, was convicted of molesting young starlets, including ex- Scotland star Alan Brazil.

Club officials were told the Trophy Centre contract will not be renewed next week. Torbett made a fortune supplying merchandise including medals and scarves to the club.

He resigned his directorship of the Trophy Centre in 2000 after being jailed for two years in November 1998.

But he remains a key figure in the business and his car is regularly seen at Trophy Centre outlets in Glasgow.

Staff answering the phone at the shops last week continued to take messages for him. A Celtic insider said: "The club has had a long history with the Trophy Centre.

"But a new management has come in and that relationship has not sat comfortably with them."

A spokesman for the club said: "Celtic had a long-term contractual obligation with the Trophy Centre. This has now lapsed and we are opening up the supply of our merchandise to tender."

Torbett served less than half of his two-year sentence.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2002 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


On reading this again I must note that I always believed the payments to have been 4 x £250,000. Going by the quote attributed to Ian McLeod it was indeed more than £1million, it was then put up for tender.
It would be interesting to know who won that contract next, and the sum per year they were paid. If it was even 10% of £250,000 I would be very surprised.
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What an excellent point and a potential smoking gun.

What was the amount they paid directly after paying a Paedophile (who was in jail at the time) £250,000 a year. Presumably it should be in their accounts?

Edited to say. To be added to the 50+ smoking guns I can think of off the top of my head.
 
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dmaude1872 said:
Just to add, if they just said "This happened, we accept responsibility and apologise profusely to the victims. We will make a financial settlement with each family and while this won't remove the pain, we hope it can go some way to beginning to alleviate the horror these people suffered", I wouldn't have a problem.

I don't think most of us could fault that.

The fact that they just refuse to engage though to protect their name and their brand, genuinely makes me feel sick. Not because it's Celtic, because it is entirely wrong and no one can disagree with that.
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This illustrates the CURRENT board are equally complicit as the old board who employed & hid them.

They CANNOT claim that this is a historical issue when people observe the current boards behaviour, with over 100 abused victims ignored & disrespected.
 
Kbhblue said:
What an excellent point and a potential smoking gun.

What was the amount they paid directly after paying a Paedophile (who was in jail at the time) £250,000 a year. Presumably it should be in their accounts?

Edited to say. To be added to the 50+ smoking guns I can think of off the top of my head.
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Four years at 250k KBH. We have already checked the accounts a long time ago mate.
 
Sensiblesteve said:
Moral integrity should insist on it ...

The thing is if this was not covered up there’s every chance players who’ve played for them wouldn’t have signed not to mention sponsorship deals with firms who wouldn’t want their brand associated with a child sex ring

Punishment must be handed out and I’m not talking a token fine
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It looks like it was a sponsored paedophile ring .
There are too many perverts linked to this trophy centre and other business attached to it .
This is gut wrenching . Anyone that cannot see the connection here .
It is because they are in denial
 
HamiltonBear said:
As a father, I hate that club. I couldn't even begin to imagine what those kids went through. I don't think I could process it or control myself if I found out that had happened to them.

As a Father, I hate that club's fans. How could anyone knowing what happened there not be so ashamed that they would still defend them? To toe the party line and say it wasn't us? To try and reduce their filthy, disgusting secrets of a paedophile gang being protected by a club they profess to love so much to point scoring? To proudly wear a rag at every opportunity knowing what happened? I cannot even begin to describe how low each and every one of them is.

Can you imagine the size of a Gary fucking Glitter concert held today? People turning up dressed like him, proudly belting out his tunes? There would be no customers. There would be no venues would touch it. No promoters either. No, I would imagine that 99% of his bought records and paraphernalia were thrown in the bin immediately after people found out what he was.

Do you think anyone would go and see that vile bastard Saville doing a marathon and applauding his heroic charity efforts? He wouldn't make it two steps from his car before being torn to pieces by a mob.

And yet they go. And they sing. And they ignore. And they try every trick in the book to implicate everyone else to lessen their shame.

To see what is happening right now, and let's be honest, Politicians and Media happily allowing themselves to be used and manipulated and still be sympathetic to their club is sickening. The question is why? It can't just be that they support that club. It just can't be. There must be something else.

Shame on them forever, whatever the reason.
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Good post HB, this weasel “separate entity” defence/ loophole they’re trying to hide behind needs to be destroyed in a court so there can be no doubt that CFC are Liable and culpable for these horrible crimes.
For years the establishment turned a blind eye to the rape and abuse of young vulnerable girls by!Asian grooming gangs in Rotherham and Oxford and other places for fear of appearing to be anti Muslim. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to finally take action on this, I think there are parallels with the CBC investigation, not enough emphasis on the survivors and too much fear of offending the RC / CFC community. Hopefully now the wheels of justice are turning and are soon to obliterate this rancid organisation out of existence.
 
Shut the paedo harbouring dump down. Nothing but a cesspit of paedophilia deflection and corruption. No point scoring just sick of this midden organisation getting away with constant controversial activities. Any normal country would be embarrassed and ashamed that this was going on and would investigate this properly and call it out for what it is, including that corrupt Dundee vote fiasco too.
 
Good piece but can I ask why is it only the times that seem to be chasing this. Haven’t seen it reported anywhere else. Is this story getting more coverage down south?

Be interesting to see how this pans out but the separate entity stuff seems to be getting ripped to shreds. Is it right court proceedings have been delayed because of the virus.

Just as well they have millions in the bank, I have my suspicions this money is ear marked though. (They’re certainly going to need it)
Could this be one of the reasons the tims are so keen to get next season started so they have more access to TV money.
 
dmaude1872 said:
Just to add, if they just said "This happened, we accept responsibility and apologise profusely to the victims. We will make a financial settlement with each family and while this won't remove the pain, we hope it can go some way to beginning to alleviate the horror these people suffered", I wouldn't have a problem.

I don't think most of us could fault that.

The fact that they just refuse to engage though to protect their name and their brand, genuinely makes me feel sick. Not because it's Celtic, because it is entirely wrong and no one can disagree with that.
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They refuse to engage because this is just the tip of the iceberg. The abuse ring was UK wide with CFC right bang in the middle of it.
 
Every time this comes up it makes me want to be sick.

The blatant ignorance from Shame FC to try and pass this off that the boys club are separate to them to either save face or more probable save money is DISGUSTING.

Own up, take your punishment and support these young men in their quest to close of this chapter of their lives.

Do the right thing for once in your existence.
 
Grigo Yossarian said:
Four years at 250k KBH. We have already checked the accounts a long time ago mate.
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Aye sorry I wasn't very clear. Are you able to see from the accounts how much they paid the next contractor for (if there was one) for similar services? .... And if you can... Was it far, far lower than £250,000 a yeàr? I'm presuming there is nothing on the accounts resembling anywhere near a quarter of a million pounds for cheap plastic trophies which begs the obvious question.... Why is a multiple-convicted Paedophile receiving such huge sums of money? Even while he's in jail.
 
Williem2 said:
Every time this comes up it makes me want to be sick.

The blatant ignorance from Shame FC to try and pass this off that the boys club are separate to them to either save face or more probable save money is DISGUSTING.

Own up, take your punishment and support these young men in their quest to close of this chapter of their lives.

Do the right thing for once in your existence.
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Exactly this, if it wasn’t bad enough they have the audacity to claim it’s nothing to do with them.

Absolutely terrible behaviour and I for one can only hope if and when the victims get justice this is considered when compensation is awarded. Bad enough it happening in the first place but to make these people relive it is horrendous.
 
Mamabear56 said:
Denis O'Connell the disgraced Canon from Kilsyth. Saville spent time at the Chapel house.
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So that then begs the question ‘what’s the connection between Savile and O’Connell?’ Why was Savile in contact with O’Connell?

I realise that the guys doing the excellent investigative work will have identified all these connections - It’s looking like an organised ring that brought Savile to Celtic, not surprisingly.
 
Too big a can of worms ??

Fro these beasts to operate covid fc MUST have known

For that club to allow this the Media must have known

For the Media to know then PC Plod must have known

For PC Plod to know then Local / National GOVERNMENT must have known.

When previous investigations into such rings have been PROPERLY carried out then it is a very extended ring of enablers and protectors that gets discovered - I have no doubt this will be same here.

The "fact" Saville somehow lost his deviances whilst in Scotland should be investigated as a matter of serious concern given those he socialised with and considered "friends" - and those subsequent "friends of Friends" ( Saville>O'Brian>Salmond )

One niggle on "Separate Entity" - Do you think they will bring "Pacific Shelf" out of the ether and claim that the events being claimed for were under the "old" company and not the current one ????
 
Sancus said:
So that then begs the question ‘what’s the connection between Savile and O’Connell?’ Why was Savile in contact with O’Connell?

I realise that the guys doing the excellent investigative work will have identified all these connections - It’s looking like an organised ring that brought Savile to Celtic, not surprisingly.
[/QUote

Here you go. I knew the mother was involved, this is excerpt from Man the beasts can't tame.


"It was Jimmy’s mother who had originally got to know Fr O’Connell in his role as Vice Postulator of the Cause for the Beatification of (at that time) the Blessed Margaret Sinclair. She had a devotion to Margaret Sinclair following a period when the young Jimmy had been very ill after a fall. She always attributed his recovery to Margaret Sinclair’s intercession.

Jimmy and Fr O’Connell formed a close friendship when Jimmy’s mother died which lasted until the then ‘Canon’ O’Connell himself died in 1997".
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Kbhblue said:
Aye sorry I wasn't very clear. Are you able to see from the accounts how much they paid the next contractor for (if there was one) for similar services? .... And if you can... Was it far, far lower than £250,000 a yeàr? I'm presuming there is nothing on the accounts resembling anywhere near a quarter of a million pounds for cheap plastic trophies which begs the obvious question.... Why is a multiple-convicted Paedophile receiving such huge sums of money? Even while he's in jail.
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Unfortunately no mate.

Statutory Accounts have very little detail to that extent.

We would need to have audited them, or have a copy of their management accounts, which are never made public, and that’s even if they were a well enough run company to have management accounts.

Many smaller companies don’t produce them.
 
Grigo Yossarian said:
Unfortunately no mate.

Statutory Accounts have very little detail to that extent.

We would need to have audited them, or have a copy of their management accounts, which are never made public, and that’s even if they were a well enough run company to have management accounts.

Many smaller companies don’t produce them.
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Cheers for the reply pal.

Whatever it was, a tax scam, money laundering, CSA-related hush money, CSA-related bribe money..... It is screaming out for an independent investigation.
 
Raffles said:
I’m unsure of this, but @Grigo Yossarian corrected a mistake I made earlier so maybe he can help here?
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I can’t access he accounts today mate, but I’ll get you an answer tomorrow.

From memory both Kevin Kelly & Anne Dunn stayed with TC Ltd after Torbett was jailed but I’ll double check the accounts & get back to you mate.
 
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Chris-to-pher said:
Exactly this, if it wasn’t bad enough they have the audacity to claim it’s nothing to do with them.

Absolutely terrible behaviour and I for one can only hope if and when the victims get justice this is considered when compensation is awarded. Bad enough it happening in the first place but to make these people relive it is horrendous.
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Chris,

The compensation piece clouds the matter.

I would take the money out of the equation and get to the crux of the problem firstly.

These young men want proper answers, they want to know why this happened, why it wasn't stopped, who hid this instead of dealing with this, why did the club not deal with it at the time and how they are going to prevent it happening in the future.

I am sure an acknowledgement that they screwed up and are deeply sorry would go a long way with so many instead of it being hidden and not acknowledged that they are SURVIVORS.

Then from that it is up to lawyers to sort any compensation if that is how it should go down.

I am sure some will want money and compensated as that is the world we live in but I am also sure there will be some that will want it simply acknowledged and that Shame FC say SORRY
 
Sandyrfc said:
ive seen the £250k figure quoted quite a bit on torbetts contract with celtic and seen the theory that its hush money paid to torbett to keep him quiet.

i dont think it is hush money, i think its a tax avoidance or laundering scheme. between 1991-1993 the small profit corporation tax rate was 25% versus 33% for standard rate.

it may only save £20k in corporation tax payments, but how many other schemes did they have?

i think celtic will have used torbett as a pawn, threatening that they would out him as a paedo if he didn't allow his business to be used for the scheme.

i just think this is a more feasible theory than hush money, effectively its torbett who is paying for silence.

if you want to take it a step further; in return did torbett ask for carte blanche on the boys club as part of the scheme?
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If you are wise in the world of finance this might be a worthwhile exercise in hunting down Kelly's companies. You never know where something could be waiting to be unearthed.

Kelly was an Honorary President of the Boy’s Club as well as a board member at Celtic when he became director of Torbett’s The Trophy Centre. A check of company records also show that Kelly was director of the following companies:

  • Glasgow Celtic Promotions Ltd, 1988-
  • Celtic Development Pools Ltd, 1988-1996
  • Celtic PLC, 1988-1994
  • The Scottish Football Association, 1989-1994
  • *Centenary Scotch Whiskey Ltd, 1989-
  • *The Trophy Centre, 1989-2005
  • Celtic Centenary Ltd, 1990
  • Celtic Improvement Trust Ltd, 1990
  • Celtic Paradise Pools Ltd, 1990
  • Celtic FC Development Fund, 1990-1996
  • *Planrole Ltd, 1991
  • JGP Ltd, 1992
  • (* = Torbett company)
 
Kbhblue said:
Cheers for the reply pal.

Whatever it was, a tax scam, money laundering, CSA-related hush money, CSA-related bribe money..... It is screaming out for an independent investigation.
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Absolutely agree. It’s definitely sordid, but whether it’s a pay off to Torbett or Kelly & McGinn’s way of syphoning finds out of CFC it’s hard to confirm.

One thing I would say is it won’t be linked to their historical under declaration of crowds because that was much much simpler tax evasion. They just would take the cash received through the turnstiles & keep an element of that. I’ve seen a few bears suggest that, but the TC 1m wasn’t needed for that & was also years after the jungle closed too.
 
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