Frost the serial litigant handed two court orders

by OUR CRIME REPORTER

He has threatened legal action against business 'enemies', lawyers, ex-employees, and even senior law enforcement officers on countless occasions following the spectacular financial collapse of a string of companies he once controlled.

But now, bankrupt vexatious litigant Martin Frost, who has also warned he would sue the proprietor of this blogging site during our coverage of his activities over the past five years, has himself felt the full weight of the law after a Scottish sheriff found him guilty of stalking two women and causing them fear and alarm.

In a case which has its origins as far back as 2018, Frost - once head of the Avocet 'air-or-dung-to-fuel' empire - was the subject of a five-day trial which ended in Jedburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday with him being fined a total of £2,000, and served with two non-harassment orders. There was also a conviction for  threatening behaviour aimed at a male Frost had targeted.

Attempts by court staff to bring the case to trial were repeatedly frustrated when Frost, who lives in Scarborough, failed to turn up for hearings before the sheriff, citing ill health and rare medical conditions. In December of last year he was warned that any further delaying tactics would result in his arrest.

As regular readers of these columns will know, Frost repeatedly used letters and statements sent to Avocet's 650 shareholders to attack his two female victims. He alleged they had stolen millions of pounds from various businesses which are now either being liquidated or are in administration.

Not Just Sheep & Rugby contacted both women to ask how they felt now that their lengthy ordeal at the hands of Frost had ended. We have decided not to name them to spare them further anxiety and hurt.

The first victim - a Scottish Borders resident - told us: "Its been a long time coming after a really tough time for us. There is some relief it's all over so far as this case is done, though it was really unpleasant because the two of us took the decision to forgo the right to use video link and endure Frost cross examining us.  

 "He is such an unpleasant character, a real Jekyll and Hyde.  A family member was in court: she was just astonished at his lies.  He did lie all the way through the trial."

And she added "However, this doesn’t make me feel much safer, because he is obviously so obsessed with us which is the real problem. The non-harassment orders are really welcome, it will give us some comfort, but he won’t be able to maintain the silence for long.

 "It's time now not to reflect but to move on. I think we had a measured procurator fiscal who kept us informed, and a judge who gave Frost 'enough rope to hang himself'.

Frost's second victim, who left the Borders as a direct result of her experiences commented: "The last few weeks have brought back some awful memories from a period in my life which I hoped would, in all honesty, disappear.

"Being cross examined directly by the accused was sickening. However, the outcome was what we had hoped for and justice prevailed.

"Although what happened will never go away from my memory, I hope that both of us can draw the proverbial line in the sand, and move forward with our lives."

All of Frost's public threats to take hordes of individuals to court both here and in Delaware, USA, have proven to be nothing more than bluster. And as a vexatious litigant he cannot raise actions in the Scottish courts without the approval of a senior judge.

This example from June 2020 is typical of the forthcoming (but non-existent) criminal and civil litigation Frost was peddling.

He told Avocet's long-suffering investors who seem likely to have lost all of their money in worthless shares: "On Thursday, 18th June 2020, Police Scotland advised me that their report  to the Procurator Fiscal was pending and it was now OK for Avocet to proceed with further criminal complaints (involving some £1.5 million of theft & fraud against Avocet) and bring civil actions (amounting to over £5 million in loss and damages).

"Most regrettably such actions will again fall upon my wife’s family and some other Avocet shareholders. A resume of these complaints including the current conspiracy and badmouthing charges against their acolytes and publicists will be forwarded to you, Avocet’s owners, for this Monday 22nd June 2020.

"For the avoidance of doubt: on Monday 22nd June, 2020, prior to service of further criminal complaints and civil actions, Avocet owners shall be advised against whom and for what such actions shall be taken – regrettably the naming of names does include some Avocet shareholders who have sought to rob and defraud their fellow shareholders along with publicists".

October 2020 saw the first threat by Frost to raise court action in the US state of Delaware against individuals who had been forwarding his shareholders' letters to non-investors including this blogging website.

Then, in May 2021, the ex-Avocet chairman announced a £5 million 'war chest' to fund at least nine separate law suits, including one aimed at Scotland's Crown Office and another at Police Scotland. The money was to come from the sale of intellectual property to mystery buyers.

There is no evidence that any of these threatened lawsuits were ever filed in court or that 'valuable' Avocet patents were sold.