A BUSINESSMAN accused of racking up more than £400,000 in mortgage frauds has been allowed to walk free after blunders by the Crown Office and a sheriff.

Craig Nichol, 31, of Edinburgh, was alleged to have lied about his income to secure mortgages on five properties, but the charges against him were dropped after he appealed against a decision to defer his trial to a later date.

Scotland's most senior judge, the newly appointed Lord President, Lord Gill, granted the appeal and criticised the Crown Office for its apparent lack of willingness to "get on with the case". He also said Edinburgh sheriff Neil Mackinnon's reasons for allowing the deferral were "insubstantial".

The appeal came about after defence lawyers acting for Mr Nichol's co-accused, Graeme Davidson and Mohammed Rasul, asked for the trial to be deferred as they were not prepared.

The Crown did not oppose the motion, even though it was ready for trial, on the condition that time constraints on the case – normally a year from the date a person first appears in court –were extended.

Sheriff Mackinnon agreed to the time extension on the grounds that there was no fault on the part of the Crown for the delay and that the case was complicated, with a list of more than 80 witnesses.

But Lord Gill ruled it should not have been allowed and the case is now "time-barred", meaning that no proceedings will be brought against Mr Nichol.

In a written judgment, Lord Gill said: "I am satisfied that the sheriff's reasons are insubstantial. It was not correct to say there was no fault by the Crown. The Crown could and should have opposed the motion for the co-accused instead of supporting it.

"The fact that there are 80 witnesses on the Crown list is meaningless. Of the 80 witnesses, 37 are police officers, many of whom will no doubt simply speak to the provenance of productions and whose evidence can be readily agreed."

The judge added: "The Crown was unquestionably ready to go to trial and could have gone to trial within the existing extension on the date already fixed. The position taken by the procurator-fiscal depute could therefore have given the unfortunate impression that the Crown supported the postponement in preference to getting on with the case."

Lord Gill also attacked the Crown in general terms for failing to indict cases until close to the end of the 12-month allocated period.

He said: "It is the Crown that elects when to put an accused on petition.

"It does so in the knowledge that starts the clock running.

"It is free to indict at any time during the ensuing year; but if it should indict up to the wire, so to speak, as happens much too often in our experience, it must recognise that unforeseen circumstances may necessitate an application [to extend the time bar], in which success is by no means certain."

The Crown Office refuted the suggestion that it leaves cases to the last minute and said it had consulted other parties involved in the Nichol case before deciding to bring it to court.

A spokesman said: "This case was indicted for trial after discussion with both the Sheriff Clerk and agents for the accused as to a date when the trial, which was expected to last a number of weeks, could be accommodated within the court schedule."

Mr Nichol's lawyer, Robert More, said his client has always maintained his innocence.

Davidson and Rasul have since pled guilty to four counts of fraud and are awaiting sentence.