Computers
Repairs
Sales
Service
Desktops & Laptops
Phones
Cameras
ipods
Consoles
& Games
01851
700178
17 Bayhead St
Stornoway, Lewis
Chef claims he was hammered by gang-
Celebrity chef James Stocks claims he fled in fear of his life when he disappeared from Harris.
The high profile caterer who is at the centre of a missing cash probe vanished off the island.
James Stocks came to Harris for a fresh start after he was disgraced for embellishing claims on his CV and alleging he had held down senior posts at some of the country’s best restaurants.
Now he maintains he is too scared to return to the island after being beaten up and threatened with his life.
The high profile caterer vanished from his job at the Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert at the weekend.
As Hebrides News revealed yesterday the 26-
Island taxi drivers had been asked by police if he hired a cab to get to Stornoway. He took the Saturday ferry from Lewis to Ullapool before travelling south.
Strathclyde Police have questioned him about a large sum of cash, said to be around £6000, which has been reported missing from the hotel safe.
Police inquiries are continuing and nobody has been charged in connection with the alleged theft.
Mr Stocks denies stealing any cash and told a newspaper he had been attacked by five men in Harris over the missing takings.
The newspaper reports how Stocks says he was hammered by the gang in his cottage
in Tarbert near the hotel -
He said he could feel the pliers as one of the thugs threatened to rip out his toenails during a ten minute ordeal over the missing money.
Stocks claimed police hid him in a safe house in Stornoway and his possessions are being stored by the council.
The chef insists he was sacked by the hotel and was owed two weeks wages, worth around
£950 plus a pre-
Angus Macleod who runs Hotel Hebrides dismissed the claims as “nonsense.”
He added: “He was not sacked but we had a meeting arranged with him for Saturday morning. He left the island unannounced.”
Mr Macleod said he called in police because, “Hotel Hebrides has been the victim of a theft of a substantial sum of money.”
Mr Macleod and his wife Chirsty recruited the rising star after they refurbished
the Macleod Motel and re-
However, he is said to have rankled some of the staff who worked with him in the
pier-
Stocks rapid rise to prominence had followed a series of awards nominations and impressive reviews. But his reputation took a beating after a string of negative headlines.
Top chefs like Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay and Michel Roux poured cold water on his claims of knowing them closely.