Interview: Eddie Cairns - Case for the complainant

EDDIE Cairns is 59. He lives on his own in a modest flat in Glasgow. And he is a complainer; a serial complainer.

In fact, he has complained so much, for so long, that a doctor warned him to stop before the stress kills him. During his 17-year campaign against Scottish Enterprise and Strathclyde Police he has sent dozens of letters, been interviewed and re-interviewed and had has case referred to the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland.

It has cost him his job, his home and at times his physical and mental health, but still he fights for what he sees as justice, utterly convinced that in the end he will be vindicated. His blog, "Scottish justice: My experiences of Scottish justice especially in relation to fraud at Scottish Enterprise", paints a picture of a fanatic determined to grind his opponents into the dust with relentless debate.

But in person, he could not be more different.

As he opens the door to his ground floor flat, it is hard to believe this is the man the complaints commissioner felt the need to step in and protect the country's largest force from. He apologises that the place is such a dump - it isn't - and directs me to the least dilapidated armchair in his living room. He has been defrosting a cake for my arrival and asks how many times I like the tea bag dunked in my tea before being taken out.

The 59-year-old former management accountant opens the window so his cat Baz - short for Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, a biblical reference to the virgin birth - whom he took in after finding her abandoned in the park when just a kitten, can get out.

When he then tells the story of how his life spectacularly unravelled it is in a softly spoken voice, with a distinctive west of Scotland twang.It is also without the vitriol that might be expected to accompany a grudge that has spanned almost two decades.

He drops a thick manila folder of documents on the table, which he occasionally consults, but he knows the story off by heart.

Mr Cairns was 42, with a house in Cumbernauld and a good job with Scottish Enterprise, when he saw what he considered to be an irregularity in the company accounts. He said: "It happened very suddenly. I was not snooping for trouble. I was given a job looking through some accounts and came across 187,000 in the bank that had not gone through the books. I went to see the boss and he sort of gave me the brush-off and told me to leave it for now. But the next month it was still left out."

He raised the matter in an e-mail but was told everything was in order. Then, while doing what he insists was routine photocopying, his boss came up to him in the middle of the office and told him he was sacked. He was later told it was for breach of confidentiality, something he denies. He went to the police, who investigated - he insists, not very well - and passed the case to the procurator fiscal, which decided not to take court action.

In subsequent press reports, Scottish Enterprise said it had been exonerated. Mr Cairns points to the police files he has since obtained which shows Strathclyde Police said the money should have been registered on the accounts two months earlier than it was. To his continuing frustration, however, the police did not challenge the statements made by Scottish Enterprise. He said: "Nobody would believe me. The thing that bothered me was they (Scottish Enterprise] would not give me a reference. That was the end of my career - no-one is going to hire someone who breaches confidentiality. I thought, I'm never going to get a job again, and that's what happened. Not even the agencies would give me any work."

He rented out his house and moved in with his sister. However, he had problems with his tenants and within two years there had been a fire at his home. Still unable to get work - he was scratching a living doing the accounts of taxi drivers - and unable to pay the repair bill, Mr Cairns lost his home and ultimately moved into his parents' home in Springburn, where he still lives today.

His father's name, James Cairns, still hangs over the door, although both he and his wife Mamie have been dead for several years. Despite all the other problems in Mr Cairns's life, and the fact his campaign for justice had now gone on for a number of years, he continued to write letters of complaint to Strathclyde Police and anyone he thought might be able to help him.

Mr Cairns said: "I wrote to various people for help, such as my MP (the former speaker, Michael Martin], and the Institute (of Management Accountants] - they said I had acted correctly.One MP said it appeared I had been sacked for being honest."

By this time it was 2002, and the rest of Mr Cairns life continued to descend into chaos. He said: "It went a bit mad. It was almost like a bad dream. It just got worse and worse. I was walking through town and a window fell from nearly seven stories up and nearly killed me. It landed seven feet behind me. It was such a large crash that I thought a car had mounted the pavement and hit a wall.

"I started getting the shakes and it got so bad that I could not walk or sit still." Mr Cairns stands up and demonstrates. He looks like a man operating a pneumatic drill. He was admitted to a mental health unit at Stobhill Hospital, in Glasgow. By this point he was so confused that he didn't realise he had been admitted to a mental health ward. It was not until he left a few weeks later that he realised he had been committed. "I thought, 'how can I go so low, all of a sudden?' " he said.

"I'm a Christian and I prayed for health. I wouldn't take drugs. I thought, 'I will force myself to walk, I will concentrate on getting my facilities back'." When he left the hospital, the doctors gave Mr Cairns a dire warning - it was not just the shock of the falling glass that had brought on his problems. He said: "The doctor said, 'you need to stop this. Stop fighting to get justice. You are suffering from stress and your life is in danger'."

He took this on board and stopped, but within months had started a new campaign, against the hospital. He sued NHS Greater Glasgow over an alleged assault, initially winning a 70,000 payout, but then losing on appeal.

Then, just months later, against the doctor's advice, he reignited his campaign against Scottish Enterprise and Strathclyde Police. Mr Cairns said: "I thought, 'what's the alternative?' I could walk the dog and look for work, or I can fight. Quite a few lawyers had let me down so I contacted Glasgow Caledonian University to do a masters in law. I got through the first semester but then I ran out of money. But I intend to go back."

Chief Superintendent John Pollok of Strathclyde Police told The Scotsman: "It is important to recognise the need to concentrate very finite policing resources on the investigation of complaints where it can be justified.

"While I have sympathy for the personal situation of the complainer in this instance, the police complaints system is not the vehicle by which his issues can be addressed and I am pleased that on this occasion the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland has validated our approach."

Mr Cairns is confident that eventually the truth - as he sees it - will out. He said: "I'm quite happy. I'm a Christian and there's a book in the Bible, Proverbs chapter 10, verse nine, that says: 'The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.'

"I see this all the time. These things go on for years but in the end people find out the truth."