The ebullient Lord Spens, who died on January 5th aged 58, went through more than his "11 years of hell" centring on his appearance at the second Guinness trial of 1991-'92. In June 1999, his right to legal aid - to help him sue the Bank of England for what he said was the destruction of his lucrative career - was abruptly withdrawn. He had said the case had been about "10, 12 years of my life, whatever that costs".
Lord Spens had lost his job, as the £100,000-a-year managing director of the Henry Ansbacher merchant bank, in January 1987, and his life savings and reputation had followed. The Bank of England forced Ansbacher to sack him. Within months came his arrest on charges of concocting - with another banker, Morgan Grenfell's Roger Seelig - an illegal share-support scheme, creating a false market in Guinness shares.
The story had begun when inspectors from the Department of Trade and Industry raided the Guinness drinks group in December 1986. This followed share-rigging allegations stemming from the 1985-'86 takeover battle for the Distillers drinks giant between Guinness and the food group Argyll.
In 1990, the former Guinness chief executive, Ernest Saunders, tycoon Gerald Ronson and stockbroker Antony Parnes were convicted for their roles in an illegal shares-support operation. Just before his own and Seelig's trial began in 1991, Lord Spens had a heart attack requiring a double bypass operation. Five months later, Seelig's ill health led to the trial being abandoned. In 1993, Lord Spens and Seelig were formally acquitted.
Lord Spens was the City of London's most predatory peer, a cigar-chomping extrovert, and he had been accused of actions of dubious legality. It is illegal for firms to buy their own shares to maintain their price in a takeover war. So buccaneers like Lord Spens had used substitute tactics to maintain share prices.
In the final stages of the takeover battle between Guinness and Argyll, Lord Spens had agreed with Seelig to buy 2.15 million Guinness shares, nominally for clients of Ansbacher. In exchange, Seelig, acting for Saunders of Guinness, would indemnify Lord Spens's bank. After Guinness won the takeover battle, Lord Spens agreed not to sell the shares, provided £7.6 million was deposited to cover the shares plus holding costs. But the money came from Guinness, making the action potentially illegal.
Lord Spens attacked the trial judge for his "limited experience of criminal trials of this nature". The judge refused to award him the £400,000 he had expended before receiving legal aid, saying he had "brought the prosecution on himself".
He was left with debts of £500,000 and requiring another heart bypass operation. Yet, as he continued his battle by suing the Bank of England for "abuse of power" and losing him lucrative employment, he was able to maintain the sense of humour he had often displayed in debates in the House of Lords. Right up to the time of his death, he was fighting before the ombudsman to restore legal aid to continue his legal battle.
Patrick Spens's father, the second Lord Spens, was director of the Federation of British Carpet Manufacturers and a compulsive gambler. He was jailed for two years for stealing from the federation.
Lord Spens was educated at Rugby and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied law. He took articles in accountancy, then joined Morgan Grenfell, becoming a director in 1972. In 1983, he became managing director of Ansbacher bank, of which he became the buccaneering spearhead in 300 takeover bids. When the Bank of England urged him to moderate his behaviour, he famously replied: "That is what Ansbacher and I do well, and I intend to carry on doing it."
Patrick Michael Rex Spens, third Baron Spens of Blairsanquhar: born 1942; died, January 2001