Latest news with #TetleyTam


Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Tea scammer dubbed ‘Tetley Tam' given £50k government grant before £500k swindle
The fraudster was jailed last week for the 'Wee Tea Plantation' dupe IN THE BAG IN THE BAG Tea scammer dubbed 'Tetley Tam' given £50k government grant before £500k swindle Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TEA conman dubbed Tetley Tam fooled a Scottish Government-backed quango into handing him £50,000. Thomas Robinson, 55, swindled the start-up grant to help build his fraudulent plantation. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Thomas Robinson before he was jailed last week Credit: Central Scotland News Agency 3 He sold the tea to luxury hotels Credit: Alamy 3 Robinson's victims between 2014 and 2019 included Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel Credit: Getty We told how he was jailed for 3½ years last week for duping luxury hotels into buying his premium 'Scottish-grown' bought on the cheap from Italy. The fantasist even claimed one brand 'produced' on his Perthshire estate was 'the Queen's favourite'. Now it has emerged Robinson — who brewed up his brazen £550,000 fraud over five years — convinced Scottish Edge to give him a mix of taxpayers and corporate cash to get his dodgy business off the ground. The crook, who claimed in court to have invented the supermarket bag for life and worked for ex-US President Barack Obama's administration, hoodwinked the selection panel with lies. One source said last night: 'He had no shame.' Scottish Edge helps entrepreneurs funded by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Hunter Foundation. Robinson was awarded the money in 2015 after pitching his The Wee Tea Plantation to judges. The quango's website has an image of him posing and says: 'Winner…The Wee Tea Plantation Limited — £50,000. 'Scotland's only tea plantation which counts Kensington Palace as customers.' Stirling Sheriff Court heard Robinson's victims included Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel. Harry Styles passionately snogs mystery woman in packed Glastonbury VIP area He also flogged 22,000 plants bought for £3 to Scots growers for £12.50 each. Scottish Edge has been asked for comment.


Scottish Sun
25-06-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Scammer dubbed ‘Tetley Tam' jailed for £500k ‘Scottish' tea swindle
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TEA scammer dubbed Tetley Tam was jailed for 3½ years - as he apologised in court for bringing shame on the cuppa industry. Fraudster Thomas Robinson, 55, tricked luxury hotels and stores into buying 'Scottish-grown tea' that was actually from abroad. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Thomas Robinson (AKA Tetley Tam) was jailed for his £500k tea scam Credit: Central Scotland News Agency 5 DG6J3N THE DORCHESTER Credit: Alamy 5 EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM – 2021/07/13: The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Credit: Getty 5 J2Y1FB Cup of tea Teapot Tea Pot Refreshing Refreshment Crockery Stimulant Beverage British Credit: Alamy 5 Bundles and piles of UK sterling banknotes Credit: Getty The conman -who appeared in BBC podcasts about his bogus venture - fleeced customers of more than £500k as part of the tea leaf scam. He said he is wracked with guilt over his five-year scam of buying cheap foreign tea and selling it at a premium as 'Scottish'. Robinson, 55 — who asked clients to call him Mr Tea — told a sentencing hearing he is plagued with remorse about the 'reputational damage' he caused to genuine tea growers here. He said: 'I've had time to wrestle with this over sleepless nights, coming to realise how wrong and stupid I've been. 'The stigma of misleading others — I should have been much more transparent and owned up to the situation.' We told how Robinson told customers his cuppa leaves had been grown on his Perthshire estate. But he was importing them at a fraction of the cost he charged. Speaking at Stirling Sheriff Court via a video link from HMP Low Moss, where he was remanded last month, Robinson pleaded to be spared a jail term. He said: 'I go to church, I'm perfectly aware that a sin is not only to do something, but also not to do the right thing. 'The shame of that hangs over me every morning, every time I wake up in my cell. Shameless moment crook counts £30k in cash he swindled from vulnerable pensioners 'I solemnly hope my actions have not detracted from the success which can be achieved for people who want to grow tea in Scotland. "I can only offer my sincere apologies if my actions have besmirched that capability.' Robinson's victims between 2014 and 2019 included Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel, the Dorchester Hotel in London and top end store Fortnum & Mason. Trading as the Wee Tea Plantation, the crook also flogged 22,000 £3 plants from Italy to Scots growers for £12.50 each. His scam echoes that of Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses who filled bottles with tap water and sold them as a premium product called 'Peckham Spring'. Robinson, also known as Tam O'Braan and Thomas O'Brien, was rumbled by Food Standards Scotland investigators. And Perth and Kinross Council checked if he had a food processing licence. Lead investigator Stuart Wilson said: 'He'd created such a story that people were taken along. 'Once we started digging into it, it was quite clear that not only could the quantity of tea not be grown but the plants he sold couldn't have been grown either in the quantities claimed.' Balmoral general manager Andrew McPherson said: 'To have been deceived in such a calculated manner left us all profoundly disappointed and embarrassed.' Fantasist Robinson, who said he got Scottish Government support for his 'scheme', even claimed one of his brands was 'the Queen's favourite'. Jailing him for three-and-a-half years, Sheriff Keith O'Mahony said: 'By any measure these convictions must be regarded as significant. People were convinced on false pretences to hand over significant sums of money.' Rob McNaughton, of the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit, said: 'The custodial sentence reflects the scale and impact of Mr Robinson's deception.'


Scottish Sun
29-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
Conman dubbed Tetley Tam caged for £550,000 scam buying cheap foreign tea and selling as 'Scottish'
The fraudster flogged 22,000 plants to growers for £12.50 each TEA LEAF Conman dubbed Tetley Tam caged for £550,000 scam buying cheap foreign tea and selling as 'Scottish' A CONMAN dubbed Tetley Tam was today caged for a £550,000 scam — buying cheap foreign tea then selling it at premium prices as 'Scottish'. Thomas Robinson, 55, told customers his cuppa-brewing leaves had been grown in fields north of the border. But he was actually importing them for a fraction of the cost he charged the likes of Edinburgh's prestigious Balmoral Hotel. An expert told Falkirk Sheriff Court tea from Africa could fetch 100 times as much if sold as 'Scots-grown'. Trading as The Wee Tea Plantation, the fraudster flogged 22,000 plants to growers for £12.50 each. He either passed them off as Scottish or allowed customers to assume they were. But they had been acquired from Italy for less than £3 each. Robinson bought more than a tonne of tea from overseas and repackaged it with names like Dalreoch White, Scottish Antlers Tea and Highland Green. The Balmoral Hotel was duped into boasting: 'Our Scottish-grown teas come from gardens in our farming heartlands in Perthshire and Dumfries and Galloway.' The fantasist alleged one brand was 'the Queen's favourite'. Robinson also claimed to be a scientist who'd invented the 'Bag For Life', a bomb disposal expert, and that he'd worked for ex-US President Barack Obama. Prosecutor Joanne Ritchie said he'd formed 'a scheme to make money on the basis of lies'. Man Awarded $50m From Starbucks After Hot Drink Causes Third-Degree Burns Jurors convicted Robinson, of Amulree, Perthshire, of defrauding tea growers of £274,354 and hotels and tea companies of £278,634 between 2014 and 2019. Sheriff Keith O'Mahony remanded Robinson in custody, warning him: 'There will be significant sentencing consequences for you.'