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Ex-royal household worker jailed for five years over contract bribes

Former Royal Household official Ronald Harper. Picture by Hannah McKay, Press Association
Former Royal Household official Ronald Harper. Picture by Hannah McKay, Press Association Former Royal Household official Ronald Harper. Picture by Hannah McKay, Press Association

A FORMER royal household official who accepted more than £100,000 in bribes to award contracts for work at royal residences including Buckingham Palace has been jailed for five years.

Ronald Harper was deputy property manager responsible for maintaining the Queen's main London home, as well as St James's Palace, Clarence House and Windsor Castle, from 1994 until he was suspended in 2012.

The 64-year-old, from Sudbury in Suffolk, accepted payments or gifts from the directors of companies who were then given large contracts for maintenance of the historic buildings paid for by the then Civil List, now called the Sovereign Grant.

He was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments after two trials at Southwark Crown Court in June and August.

The corrupt bribes were made "over a significant period of time" either directly to Harper or via a member of his family, while some of the money was used to pay Harper's credit card bills, jurors were told.

Sentencing Harper yesterday, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said there were multiple sides to his character.

One side showed a "hard-working, apparently loyal team player, admired and trusted by your colleagues", but the side they did not see was "dishonest and greedy".

"But nobody could have guessed that a trusted insider such as yourself could think of going to the lengths that you did to corrupt the system for personal gain," he said.

"Your betrayal of your colleagues' trust and your lack of remorse at what you did are both remarkable."

Among the firms that Harper dealt with was Melton Protective Services (MPS) and BSI Nordale, which were both awarded prestigious contracts for work within the Royal Palaces.

The prosecution alleges that Harper received at least £85,000 in relation to MPS between 2006 and 2011, and £20,000 from BS Nordale directors in two payments in 2011.

Former MPS director Steven Thompson, 62, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make corrupt payments and fraud by abuse of position, was jailed for 18 months.

BSI Nordale director Christopher Murphy, 56, was also sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for conspiracy to make corrupt payments.

Harper's salary was around £45,000 per annum, rising to £60,000 by 2011.