Craig Whyte's housekeepers found guilty of theft Two former housekeepers for ex-Rangers owner Craig Whyte were convicted of stealing thousands of pounds worth of items from the businessman's Castle Grant home Following a five day trial the couple, who both now live and work in the south of England, were fined £1000 each. They had denied stealing expensive jewellery, pens, a quad bike, clay pigeon trap, furniture and other goods from the Castle last year and storing them in a container and at the barn of an acquaintance of Mr Whyte. Whyte denied ever instructing his housekeepers to store the items. But Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist criticised the businessman's evidence which he said included "matters which were perhaps open to question." A letter containing an alleged confession by 51 year old Jane Hagan and her 54 year old husband Terence Horan as well as embarrassing revelations about Whyte had to be read out by Craig Whyte earlier in the trial. The Sheriff questioned the circumstances surrounding its recovery by Whyte and his girlfriend from the couple's computer, the oddities in the language used in the key confessional paragraph and he decided: "It would be difficult to be satisified that the letter had not been altered." However evidence from Kim Whyte and her friend Linda Cameron that they had heard Hagan and Horan saying they intended to take items of high value from Castle Grant because they had not been paid proved crucial. This, the Sheriff said, provided strong support of Craig Whyte's testimony that he had not given the pair an instruction to store items on his behalf in a container they rented to prevent Sheriff's Officers or his wife from seizing them. He added: "Concerns the couple had regarding Craig Whyte's unreliability in paying bills and concerns they had about payment of salaries and their future generally provides a clear motive to them to remove property from the Castle." The Sheriff had some sympathy for the couple whose future working for landed gentry will now be in doubt. He told them: "I recognise the circumstances in which these events took place and they provide an explanation and some mitigation. I also recognise the consequences a conviction of dishonesty and breach of trust will have on people in your line of work. Shocked After sentencing, Jane Hagan was in tears as she left the court. Both she and her husband looked shocked in the dock as the verdict was delivered and shook their heads constantly. Horan said: "We are clearly disappointed by this verdict. It was not what we wanted nor expected. We need to take further advice about what to do next. The pair both took to the witness box to tell what life was like working for the controversial millionaire in Castle Grant near Grantown on Spey. The court heard of late salary payments coming from different companies; failure by Whyte to pay tax and national insurance; failure to provide statutory employment contract and pay slips; failure to pay local suppliers and his mortgage; a picture of a run-down castle but Whyte demanding it be operated like a five star hotel; and accusations that Whyte lied about a poison plot when giving evidence in the first day of the trial. Terrorist training The Sheriff also heard that the couple had to undertake anti terrorist training from police in the aftermath of the Rangers take-over and that there had been threats made against the Castle and Whyte himself. Hagan and Horan also had to deal with calls from Whyte's bank about re-possession of the Castle because of non payment of mortgage debts as well as being pursued by unpaid suppliers. He also accused them of hatching a plot to poison him and that he had been told by police that the couple had a history of dishonesty with previous employer. However two detectives assigned to investigate the theft denied any of this had ever been said. Whyte also told the trial his girlfriend found the letter in a kitchen, but then appeared to change that version by claiming it was located on the computer and she had printed it out. Hagan and Horan were on holiday in Hawaii at the time where they received an email from Whyte sacking them for gross misconduct. But a forensic computer expert, Jim Borwick from Edinburgh said Hagan's computer was not secure and had been extensively accessed while they were on vacation, including a spreadsheet containing their passwords and the damaging letter. He added: "I can't say that the letter was definitely altered, but it was possible it could have been."