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Dear Mr. Stuart-King,

For some time now, we have featured in each other's emails, and you have questioned my motives in seeking to expose what I believe to be, at best, disingenuous behaviour on your part. You have represented this as my personal attack on you. Several episodes in your career are a mystery to myself and others. So that I might understand you better, I have some questions to put to you. I shall be grateful for your early reply.

1. Your name at birth was Barrie (Stuart) King and around 1995 you hyphenated your second Christian name and the surname. Was this mere affectation or was there some pressing reason for the change?
2. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, knows where you live or has a land telephone number for you. Even the address you gave to the CCC is a dead letter box in Weybridge. Why is such secrecy necessary?
3. On many occasions you claimed to have run international offshore and onshore oil and petrochemical projects throughout the world with project values of up to £400 million. You appear never to given the name of a single company. As the need for commercial confidentiality, if it ever existed, is now long past, would you please supply the name of the company you represented, and the dates of such employment?
4. Your professional qualifications are listed as: an HND in Electrical Engineering, membership of the British Institute of Management, the Association of Project Managers and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Given that membership of BIM, APM and SPE are not, in themselves, qualifications, it would appear that the offshore petrochemical industry entrusted £400 million projects to a man who had an O-level in household electrics. Could you give us the rest of your qualifications?
5. My investigations into the SS Great Britain Trust are, as yet, incomplete. Do you have any details you care to impart that might expedite matters?
6. On 19th June 1980 you were quoted at length under your then name of Barrie King in an article in The Times in relation to the Ark Royal National Preservation Campaign and the imminent arrival of the £13 million necessary to save it from an unnamed sponsor. It is a matter of history that the ship was scrapped but could you tell me who the would-be sponsors for such an incredible amount of money were and what happened to make them change their mind?
7. In 1996 you were the Chairman of Trustees of The Independent Association of British Sports Coaches (IABSC) based in Gipsy Hill, London, SE19. When I telephoned the number given, a charming West Indian lady told me she had lived there for years and had never heard of you or your association. Do you have any comment on this?
8. A friend of mine, a former member of the BOA, enquired of the AAA, one of the governing bodies for sport in this country. Their response was that the ISBSC was never officially accepted but merely a private organisation that no longer exists. Can you confirm any of this?
9. What became of Interactive Sports Training Ltd.?
10. What became of Education Through Sport?
11. In your c.v. you state that you were the Director of Projects for the International Rugby Coaching & Education Partnership Inc. (IRCEP), based in Yorkshire and Florida, between 1988-91. This organisation provided intensive rugby coaching and training programmes for the US Army (including the military academy at West Point), USAF, USMC, USN and the US Coast Guard, as well as universities such as Notre Dame and UCLA. I am awaiting a response from the Pentagon but, in order to expedite matters and to put my mind at rest, could you provide further details?
12. I have so far been unable to trace IRCEP through the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Can you help?
13. There appears to be no record of this company at Companies House and a check of your name reveals no directorship with them. In view of the potential for injuries and given the American propensity for suing, it seems very unlikely that an unincorporated body would exist over here allowing an injured American the opportunity merely to shift the case to the UK onto people with unlimited liability. Do you have any idea why any record of this company is proving so elusive?
14. You claim to have held the post of Senior Youth Development Officer for the Middlesex County RFU. Another friend of mine, a former leading referee and a member of the Middlesex RFU structure since the 1970's, does not remember you and his check with the Director of Coaching of the RFU has failed to unearth your name. Can you help them with their memories and records?
15. You say that you were the Chairman and Secretary of Staines RFC Youth Section from 1980-88. Contemporary members of the club state you were asked to leave the club in 1980 following a disastrous club tour to Houston, Texas when promised sponsorship failed to materialise and the club and its members were seriously embarrassed. Can you explain why their version of history and yours so seriously diverge?
16. At various Council meetings of the Club Cricket Conference you claimed to be on the verge of securing major sponsorship for the organisation, none of which happened. Can you enlighten us further?
17. At the last Council meeting of 2004 you claimed to be one day away from securing a seven-figure sponsorship deal that also failed to materialise. Could you now advise us who the company was that was prepared to pay out between £1,000,000 and £9,999,999 to an organisation turning over £160K p.a.?
18. The NACLCC, of which you were the Chief Executive, has recently been wound up on the grounds it never traded and was unlikely ever to do so. Given that you voted for that to happen, could you explain how it was you allowed an invoice to NACLCC for £117,500 to be raised by Chris Rawson on behalf of ACU&S?
19. The NRCC was incorporated into the NACLCC on 1st May 2003 and subsequently ceased to exist. Given that, can you explain how you allowed Chris Rawson to raise an invoice for £7,7774.12 to a non-existent organisation?
20. At various times Chris Rawson states that he has, on behalf of ACU&S received payments from NRCC/NACLCC. Given that one didn't exist and the other never traded, can you shed any light onto how this might be?
21. On 27th April 2005 Chris Rawson issued credit notes to both NACLCC and NRCC on behalf of the Association and these were addressed to 361 West Barnes Lane, New Malden, Surrey, the offices of the Club Cricket Conference. Given that one of these companies did not exist and the other never traded and you had ceased to be an employee of the CCC on 18th March 2005 (the day before David Burden was confirmed as the new Chairman of ACU&S), how was this possible and why did you not correct Chris Rawson on his mistakes?
22. You said the video produced to illustrate the 2000 Laws changes would bring considerable income to the Association. How much profit did it actually make?
23. At the AGM, in answer to a question, you stated that no records of the Post Office payments had been kept. Given that they totalled some £200K, why was that?
24. Why were you the only point of contact between ACU&S and the Post Office - do/did you not feel that this left you and the Association dangerously exposed?
25. At the AGM, in your answer to my question to the General Secretary "Are there in existence any agreements that, in the event of the proposed sponsorship falling through, would endanger the future of the Association?", you stated categorically not. Given your background in the petrochemical industry of running £400 million projects 'with full profit/loss accountability' you must have known that, with assets of £115,000 and leases totalling £125,000 plus VAT this was simply not true. Why therefore did you lie to the Meeting?
26. We are led to believe that Charterhouse Enterprises are sponsors of ACU&S and, to that end, have made an advance payment of £28K with the promise of more to come. Given that they only registered with the Financial Services Agency on 1st March this year, can you give us more details?
27. A rumour is circulating that Charterhouse Enterprises have done all this in exchange for advertising rights with ACU&S over the next three years. Given that this will equate to only 15 issues of How's That? , can you explain why he would possibly wish to spend nearly £2,000 per advert - an incredibly large amount to spend on such a limited circulation?
28. Given that the Statement From General Council printed in the last issue of How's That? but published in June, refers to the receipt of the Charterhouse 'sponsorship', why did they not advertise in the last issue of How's That? Why are they not advertising on the website - the most regularly accessible medium ACU&S have?
29. Will you confirm this is definitely sponsorship (or rather advertising) and not just a loan? You will recall that for months members were told the laptops and projectors were sponsored when in fact it transpired they were leased all along and you were just hoping to get sponsorship.
30. You appear to have been dealing with Charterhouse Enterprises for at least 5 years on quasi-ACU&S business and share a telephone. Can you outline the precise details of your relationship with them and confirm that you have declared it? How does this sit alongside the fact that the company has only been registered with the FSA since 1st March this year and is not registered at Companies House?
31. Is there any relationship between Charterhouse Enterprises, the alleged sponsors of ACU&S, and Charterhouse Enterprises Ltd, the fundraising arm of Charterhouse School, and are they aware of each other's existence?
32. Can you confirm there is no relationship between the Association of Cricket Umpires & Scorers and the ACUS Member Protection Services?
33. At various times you have described yourself as Senior Consultant, Chief Executive, Chairman & Senior Consultant, Legal Consultant, Legal Support Consultant and Legal Support Services of ACUS Member Protection Services in letters to the Metropolitan Police, Diners Club International, local parking authorities and the like. I am fully aware that, as long as you do not style yourself 'Solicitor' or 'Barrister-at-Law', there is nothing illegal in this but could you please advise me of your legal qualifications?
34. When may I expect my long-promised writ for defamation? Both Peter Ray and I have contacted Finer Stevens Innocent, the very expensive West End firm of Solicitors you have engaged, and asked them to expedite matters and confirm when we might expect service of the writs - so far, all to no avail!

I would appreciate your prompt response as I and I am sure many other members would like to see these matters cleared up.

Charlie Puckett

The following is an emailed response from the former Chairman in reply to my Open Letter to him. It was received on 28th August 2005 at 13.32. As a measured reply to 34 questions, you may find it of interest.

In a memo purported to have been written by Mr. Julian Laud of Charterhouse Enterprises concerning the count for the 2000 ACU&S AGM which ultimately saw Mr. King returned as Chairman, Mr. Laud's mobile phone number is given as 07768 026458. In the issue of How's That? printed shortly after he assumed office, Mr. King invites anybody who wishes to talk to him to telephone 07768 026458! As late as last summer, that was still Mr. King's telephone number. I am a great believer in coincidence but I also believe there was a gunman on the grassy knoll. Try telephoning the number for yourself!

Mr Puckett

Just a few quick observations on your 'Open Letter' to me that appears also - for some reason - to have been simultaneously circulated, unsolicited and undeservedly, to half the world and his wife; and probably to many others besides:

1. Consisting as it does of a bizarre pot pourri of disjointed, inconsistent / incoherent, allegations based almost exclusively on innuendo, but also distortions of facts; a multitude of very basic errors and inaccuracies; obvious misinformation; and manifest ignorance, collectively dressed up as 'questions', it really is just a bit too crude, silly and obvious a tactic, even by your customary low standards.
   If you, or your Middlesex/Thames Region-based cabal, paid for this 'information' about me, I strongly recommend that you demand your money back! Furthermore, you are fully aware that your studiedly disingenuous 'questions' 18-33 have already been addressed/covered with myself, Peter Freeman and Chris Rawson by the Committee of Enquiry set up by General Council and that they will be included in their Report due out, I am advised, at the end of September.
2. Having glanced through the woefully inaccurate and fundamentally flawed content of 'your' 'Open Letter' - e.g. your claim that my home address in Weybridge is a 'dead letter' box (this will come as one hell of a surprise both to my daughter with whom I share the maisonette, my family, our neighbours, milkman and the postman!); that ..."nobody but nobody"... knows my home telephone number (quite wrong; you don't have it because I give it out only to those whom I wish, or need, to have it!); that I have worked and shared a telephone number with Charterhouse Enterprises for the past 5 years (really? doing what? and which number?) ...et al / ad nauseum - I have no intention of dignifying or giving credence to the unutterable twaddle contained therein by responding; other than to thank you for the immense satisfaction it has given me in seeing the conduct and nature of your Puckett/Hopley-led cabal's vendetta against me publicly exposed for what it is - deeply bitter, personally-motivated, anti-Association; contemptible - and, also, in receiving such extremely useful additional supporting evidence for m'Learned Friends, Messrs Finers Stephens Innocent. The only remaining item they now await to complete their case preparations is a copy of the Committee of Inquiry's Report. You will just have to contain yourselves until then.
3. It saddens me greatly to see supposedly mature, intelligent, men - and members of the Association to boot - leading such lonely, empty and unfulfilled daily lives that they have become irrationally eaten up with all-consuming bitterness to the extent where they can find nothing better to do than spend/waste inordinate amounts of time - countless festering hours - obsessively producing missives like this 'Open Letter to Mr Barrie Stuart-King' (and others); a document that at the end of the day is so obviously poorly-sourced, so inadequately-researched, so inaccurate in both substance and detail, so inept, so markedly incomplete; so strikingly ill-informed and so poorly collated as to be both unworthy of the effort and politically/professionally embarrassing. Not to mention equally self-demeaning to its authors.
   The only conclusion I can draw is that you and your little cabal must be feeling extremely threatened and mighty desperate to have felt it necessary to sink to these stygian depths.
4. The purpose/intent of your 'Open Letter' is clearly to further the cause of your cabal's founding character-assassination campaign, the prime objective of which your - and David Burden's - eminence grise, Keir Hopley (an Acting Principal Secretary at the Home Office), is on record as stating is - ..."to get BS-K not only out of the Association but also out of cricket"; ..."ANY damage done to the reputation of the Association in the pursuit of this objective is acceptable collateral damage"....
   It's a great shame that you, Hopley and your fellow travellers have not put - are not putting - the same amount of obsessive strenuous effort into supporting and helping the Association and its members as you are/have into seeking to destroy my reputation, the reputations of other officers of integrity, and the reputation and standing of the Association.
5. Indeed, on this subject, let me pose YOU a question:
   What firm, practical, positive and/or constructive initiatives to recover/replace the Association's recent lost sponsorships - a loss to which the underhand activities of you and your cronies contributed - or to introduce new sources of major funding into the Association, have you and/or your other cabal members - i.e. Mr Peter Ray, Mr Keir Hopley, Mr David Burden, Mr Roy Arnold and Mr Colin Edwards - offered, made, negotiated, or successfully concluded over recent months, either individually or collectively, alongside your contributions of bile and venomous disinformation/misinformation against those of us who have and are continuing to do so?

Barrie Stuart-King