Taxi Driver Online

Evening Times (Glasgow)

September 14, 2007

Iceman made guilty plea to 'protect wife'

Jamie Stevenson was jailed for nearly 13 years

JAILED gangster Jamie "the Iceman" Stevenson only pleaded guilty to laundering GBP1million to stop details of his sex life being made public.

The shock claim was made by the crimelord's legal adviser as part of a bid to stop Glasgow City Council shutting down his wife Caroline's taxi firm.

James McDonald said Stevenson, who was jailed for almost 13 years in April, was anxious to keep secret the "hours of bedroom conversations and antics" with his wife which had been taped by cops who bugged the couple's Burnside flat.

These "activities", Mr McDonald said, would have been revealed in court if the gangster had denied the charges and the case went to trial.

Mr McDonald said: "He pleaded guilty to save his wife the considerable embarrassment which would have followed from any disclosures."

The legal adviser, who is not a qualified lawyer, said that before Stevenson's court case, he was "offered a deal" by prosecutors.

This involved him pleading guilty to five charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act, for which he would expect two years' imprisonment. In reality, a judge gave him 12 years and nine months.

Mr McDonald said: "He was persuaded to plead guilty by the Crown but he was set up."

Stevenson, 42, was jailed after admitting laundering more than GBP1m - all thought to be the proceeds of drug trafficking.

Since then his wife has been battling to keep private hire licences for her taxi firm, CS Cars, which runs 10 vehicles bought with Stevenson's cash.

The claims about the gangster trying to spare his wife's embarrassment came at the latest council hearing into the licences.

However, councillors rejected the request to renew the 10 licences.

And after hearing Mr McDonald's claims, Inspector John Galbraith, from Strathclyde Police's licensing section, said: "The suggestion James Stevenson is willing to serve a prison sentence to save his wife's embarrassment is ridiculous."

But under law, Mrs Stevenson was allowed to keep the taxis running pending an appeal.
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What is it with gangsters and private hire ? I dread to think just how many firms there are out there founded with drug money !

He did not run a private hire company. The cars were plated and were on a few differant systems. The company mentioned in news releases did not operate a private hire booking office.

Yet again the news paper get part of the story wrong and they were not taxis....