Palmer and Harvey become 'MIssing People' supporters - the Edward Smethurst & McCann connection

by **sharonl** 23.05.17 21:02

OMG - Just saw Aquila's post on Palmer and Harvey partnering Missing People. Tony might have something to say about this and the links to Ed Smethurst.

by **Tony Bennett** 23.05.17 22:04

sharonl wrote:OMG - Just saw Aquila's post on Palmer and Harvey partnering Missing People. Tony might have something to say about this and the links to Ed Smethurst.

Clive Garrad is a supplier of confectionary and was a supplier to Palmer & Harvey, Britain's largest food wholesaler, delivering mostly to small, 'convenience' stores. He ran a company called Sweet Cred.

Relations between Clive and the Board of Directors was fine until the death of the Managing Director, the man with whom Clive used to deal. After his death, relations soured and a bitter dispute about who owed what to whom developed.

A very strange series of events then followed, which led, in April 2011, to Clive Garrad's arrest. He was charged with blackmail, and remanded in custody in Lewes Prison. As soon he got to the prison he was handed a letter signed by senior Freemason Edward Smethurst, the McCanns' co-ordinating solicitor. The letter advised him that Clive owed Palmer & Harvey a large sum of money, more than £1 million if memory serves.

About 8 weeks later, Clive was released on bail. A four-week trial was listed for Guildford Crown Court in November 2011.

After he was released on bail, Clive contacted me. He had googled 'Edward Smethurst' - and guess which website came up first?

He found out about me and we met and had a long chat about Smethurst. He had found out by then that Smethurst had not only been employed to sue for Clive's alleged debt but that Palmer & Harvey had also employed Smethurst's company, Palladium, to spy on him.

Half way during his 4-week trial, Cliver 'phoned me and I put this post up on CMOMM:

QUOTE

R v Clive Garrad: An Update

Earlier in the year, I reported on an account given to me by south London businessman, Clive Garrad, of his dispute with retail food wholesalers, Palmer & Harvey. He alleged that Palmer & Harvey owed him a large sum of money and were refusing to pay. He further claimed that he had been entrapped as a result of Palmer & Harvey engaging the services of Palladium Associates. The partners of Palladium Associate are McCann lawyer Ed Smethurst and former Greater Manchester Police Officer, Steve May. Both are Freemasons as I’ve proved with the help of an MF member who has access to some Freemasonry documents and archives.

Clive Garrad claimed that Steve May had devised a complicated plot to ‘frame’ him and get him accused of blackmail. Garrad was arrested by armed police at around 7.30am in April, whilst parked in a car close to the HQ of Palmer & Harvey. I found his account plausible, and Garrad shared with me two ring binders containing the evidence against him. He was charged with blackmail. On examining the file in detail, however, I began to entertain some doubts about his story, and you’ll recall that I shared those with you a few weeks back.

Yesterday Clive Garrad gave me a brief update on his trial, which began at Guildford Crown Court on Monday 21 November. He told me yesterday that the case still has another two weeks or so to run. Apparently the trial has not yet been reported anywhere.

According to Garrad, the trial is going well and the weak points in the case against him are being brought out. The only other specific thing he said which may be of interest is in relation to Smethurst’s partner Steve May. He said: “It came out in court that May had never risen above the rank of Detective Constable during his entire time with GMP. He was a very poor witness”.

UNQUOTE

At the end of the trial Clive was found NOT GUILTY.

I find it remarkable that the Directors of Palmer & Harvey should have employed Smethurst - and now Palmer & Harvey are helping to fund Missing People, where Kate McCann is the 'Ambassador'.

As a CMOMM member remarked the other day on another thread, Missing People is one strange organisation.

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