A demolition contractor who razed a five bedroom mansion on an estate owned by Stagecoach tycoon Ann Gloag - contravening bat and bird protection laws - escaped with a fine today after a sheriff said he had been "duped" into carrying out the work.
David Kerr, 74, was said to have acted on the instructions of members of a business dynasty described as "friends of the Gloag family".
Stirling Sheriff Court heard that Glassingall House, near Dunblane, which boasted its own swimming pool, squash court and tennis court, had been vacant for two years prior to the incident, and it had become home to "a variety of wildlife" including bats and birds.
