THE author of the Maisie the Morningside Cat books has revealed she plans to place her beloved character at the centre of a new tale – about the trial of the books' former publisher.
Katrena Allan was yesterday cleared of £650,000 embezzlement charges after three trials and years of delays.
Maisie author Aileen Paterson claims she lost £40,000 after Mrs Allan's publishing firm Glowworm Books hit financial problems when the cou
rt proceedings were launched.
She said: "I do intend to write about my experiences with her (Mrs Allan]. I thought about an article illustrated with Maisie dressed as Lord Advocate. It wouldn't do any harm, I think, if I write something about it."
A jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday returned a unanimous "not guilty" verdict on all charges against Mrs Allan after a three-week trial.
Speaking outside court, Mrs Allan, 51, who burst into tears at the verdict, said: "It's a great relief and the truth is out now. I can get on with my life now."
She was accused of stealing the money from East Lothian-based Bindery Machinery Services, where she worked as finance director, after more than half a million pounds was discovered missing from the accounts.
Her former boss Jim Brown claimed Mrs Allan had fraudulently written dozens of cheques for thousands of pounds to herself and her company Glowworm Books, which published Maisie.
On hearing the news that Mrs Allan had been cleared, Mrs Paterson said: "I am scunnered. I hope I've got some brandy in the house. I don't normally drink but I think it might be an idea to have a small glass of brandy.
"My contract was with the company that went bust. I'll never get any money out of it. I just get on with life as I always have (but] quite considerably poorer."
"The reason I never said anything until now was that she was going on trial and it wouldn't be fair. I have done the right thing and not said that I had a really lousy time with her. And I did."
Mrs Allan previously stood trial in November 2007, but proceedings were abandoned because the defence team was unable to get hold of vital cheques, invoices and receipts.
A new trial in March this year was deserted after a few days when more documents emerged.
Mrs Allan, of Ecclesmachan, West Lothian, then stood trial for the third time, denying she had fraudulently taken the money.
It was alleged she wrote unauthorised cheques and made electronic payments worth £656,325 between May 1999 and January 2005, and tried to take a further £35,108 in January 2005.
The finance director claimed any cheques or electronic bank transfers were repayments for loans she had made to BMS.
She said Mr Brown regularly asked her to pay thousands of pounds for his expenses to avoid tax. In return, she used BMS money to pay Glowworm salaries when she was short, and paid it back when she could.
