We borrowed £250 from loan shark..and had to pay back £40,000

Apr 7 2011 Mark Mcgivern

Angela Clements and Joe Rankin ended up paying back an estimated £40,000 to Colin Morrison for just a £250 loan

A couple told yesterday how they borrowed s250 from a loan shark - and were forced to pay back s40,000.

Shattered Joe Rankin and Angela Clements spoke of their years of torture as ruthless Colin Morrison was warned he faced a jail sentence.

Morrison, 46, was convicted yesterday of operating a lucrative moneylending business over six years, charging compound interest of more than 700,000 per cent to clients already living on the breadline.

But he was in business over a much longer period, using brutal tactics to bleed his victims dry.

Joe, 40, and Angela, 46, said yesterday they were in Morrison's clutches for more than 10 years and ended up paying most of their benefits straight to him.

They were finally forced to flee their home to escape him. And Joe says the thug brutally attacked him when he tried to get away - although his not guilty plea to an assault charge was accepted by prosecutors yesterday.

Joe, who is now living in a secret address miles from his former home in Shettleston, Glasgow, said: "This person wrecked my life.

"He bled us dry over years and he banked more of our benefits than we saw ourselves.

It kept spiralling out of control until it was clear that we would never be able to get out of it and we had to leave Shettleston."

Joe, who gets benefits as a carer for Angela, who has a muscle-wasting disease, said that by last January, they were shelling out more than s200 of their s300 weekly income to the loan shark.

He said: "Some weeks, we were forced to live on less than s20, which could barely feed us.

"We dreaded him knocking the door and the pressure was incredible. We basically had no money to do anything and Morrison didn't care.

"All he wanted was to get as much of our money as possible and keep us hanging on forever. We weren't the only ones. I know loads of people in a similar position."

Joe said he first got in debt to loan sharks after he moved from Airdrie to Shettleston in 1996.

He said: "I was young and daft and liked a drink and that was how loads of people get into people like Morrison.

"I was skint and borrowed a tenner for a carry-out, meaning I had to pay back s13 the next week. Then I got ideas to get a few things done to my house so I borrowed s250.

"The deal was I paid back double over so many weeks. I don't know how I agreed to it but once I got into that, I was never getting out.

"It got to the stage that I was borrowing more from Morrison and other sharks to cover debts I already had and I lost track of what I owed. Morrison just kept asking for more and more."

Joe was put in contact with the Scottish Illegal Money Lending Unit after Morrison's assault on him was reported to police.

He said: "Morrison got wind we were leaving the area and he came up to me as the removal van was outside. He kept saying, 'Bad idea' and started jabbing his car keys into me. Then he lost the plot and started punching my face.

"I was prepared to go to court to testify but the assault charges got dropped when he pleaded guilty to the moneylending."

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard yesterday that despite Morrison and his wife Roseann having no income other than benefits, investigators from the Scottish Illegal Money Lending Unit seized s7000 in cash from their home.

They also located s13,000 in bank accounts, which the Crown has frozen pending a proceeds of crime hearing next month.

Morrison admitted operating an illegal moneylending business, while the prosecution accepted a not guilty plea to a similar charge against his 41-year-old wife.

Prosecutor Richard Hannay told the court: "The investigation established that Mr Morrison has not been employed or in receipt of benefits for the period libelled. His wife received benefits of between s94 and s98 per week."

Sheriff Martin Jones told Morrison he had pled guilty to a very serious charge.

Sheriff Jones added: "Those who prey on the poor, weak and vulnerable in this way will be severely treated by the courts."

The sheriff deferred sentence until later this month and Morrison was released on bail.