Conman who scammed five-star hotels with fake tea plot jailed after web of lies
He claimed to have lived in the Amazon, been bitten by a deadly snake, dodged bullets on the Thailand-Burma border, and even invented the bag for life.
But in reality, Thomas Robinson, 55, was nothing more than a conman in what people are dubbing the ' most British' crime of the year. Robinson, the man behind an elaborate £550,000 tea scam, has been jailed for three and a half years after duping luxury hotels, elite shoppers and even farmers with his fake Scottish brews.
Trading as The Wee Tea Plantation, Robinson claimed his brew was grown in the Scottish Highlands, including Perthshire and Dumfries and Galloway. But a court heard how the leaves were actually purchased from wholesalers in Oxford - and likely originated from India or Sri Lanka.
Among his high-profile victims were Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel and London's Dorchester, where his so-called Highland Green, Silver Needles, and Scottish Antlers teas made it onto luxury menus.
Calling himself Tam O'Braan, the convicted conman boasted of being a former bomb disposal expert, chemist, agronomist, and Army veteran. He even told one glossy magazine he'd lived in a canoe, been shot at, and bitten by a snake.
At one point, he even bragged his tea was the Queen's favourite. His story was so convincing it even fooled BBC News, which featured his "Scottish tea success" in articles and a podcast.
But in court, his fantasy life was branded the "CV of a fantasist". The scam ran for five years from 2014, until suspicious tea growers began asking questions.
Richard Ross, who bought 500 plants from Robinson in 2015, noticed his crops were failing. Then he spotted Robinson's brands on the Balmoral's prestigious Palm Court menu.
"I heard about the Balmoral tea list and decided to have a look," Ross said. "He'd taken names of genuine plantations - but no one involved in the actual plantations had heard they were selling to The Balmoral. That's because none of them had produced any tea."
By 2017, authorities including Food Standards Scotland and Perth and Kinross Council were on the case. They discovered Robinson had no food processing licence - and no local tea, either.
He didn't just target posh hotels. Robinson also duped would-be tea growers, flogging them plants he claimed were "specially engineered" to thrive in Scotland's chilly climate. They were actually imported from Italy.
He defrauded a dozen genuine tea growers in Scotland and one from Jersey by supplying them with 22,000 plants at £12.50 each. In reality, the plants cost £2. Many of the plants died or failed to thrive while Robinson made almost £275,000 from the sales, the BBC reports.
In court, Robinson claimed he'd developed a "special biodegradable polymer" to make tea grow faster. Prosecutors said it looked just like a black bin liner.
Lead investigator Stuart Wilson, from FSS, said: "He'd created such a story that people were taken along. Once we started digging into it, it was quite clear that not only could the quantity of tea not be grown, but the plants he sold couldn't have been grown either in the quantities claimed." He added: "There were a lot of false claims. He built his lies on top of lies."
Sentencing at Stirling Sheriff Court was delayed after Robinson's lawyer quit. He represented himself in court, apologising and blaming "hubris and arrogance" for his actions.
But Sheriff Keith O'Mahony said the scam was "not victimless" and involved "significant and persistent planning".
The Balmoral Hotel, duped into selling Robinson's bogus blends, said it was left "shocked and devastated" by the scandal.
General manager Andrew McPherson said: "We work hard to support local Scottish food producers... To have been deceived in such a calculated manner left us all profoundly disappointed and embarrassed."
He added: "As general manager, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to everyone affected by this tea incident, particularly our loyal guests, who trusted in the authenticity and quality of our offerings."
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