Andrew Davies, a promising young Manchester solicitor was approached by a very worried Shaun O'Driscoll who needed a lawyer. Unfortunately for him, Davies was a fraud, who looted the accounts of his wealthy clients, only to plead guilty to along list of other criminal charges recently. O'Driscoll, one of the victims prepared to speak at the Bolton Crown Court this week, put forth a tale of secrets, the wealthy, and the elite's love for debauchery. A self-proclaimed rent boy turned sadomasochistic “dungeon master”, O'Driscoll's clients included a former British diplomat who was secretly filmed being thrashed until he bled.
O'Driscoll also claimed to have had a 15-year relationship with an Italian duke who paid him £40,000 a year “to procure participants, costumes, and equipment to act out the duke's fantasies.” Very soon, the high of the work began to spiral in a whirlwind of blackmailing allegations, lawsuits, and a series of degrading revelations that knocked at the door of one of London's grandest social institutions- the Reform Club in Pall Mall.
The 58 year old claimed in court papers that his Italian client, the late Roberto Ferretti di Castelferretoo, whose ducal title predates the abolition of the Italian monarchy in 1946, had set up a Swiss bank account to finance their activities. He had also bought houses in Chorley and Blackburn, Lancashrie, to use as “dungeons”. Both the men were members of the Reform Club and mingled with leading figures from business and politics, yet, when O'Driscoll provided Davies with a dossier of his relations with the duke, he claimed Ferretti lived a double life.
When the duke died, O'Driscoll was paid £66,000. However, the now retired and married father of three claimed that he was promised £100,000 for every year of his service- £1.5m in total. When he failed to receive the money, he went to Davies, who agreed to launch a legal claim against Hitesh Tailor, the duke's male partner from 1986, as trustee of Ferretti's personal foundation in Liechtenstein. The duke told me the will was kept in a black briefcase along with the home movies of our sessions and private letters and a statement on his involvement in the betrayal of Calvi, which he wanted made public,” O’Driscoll said.
However, he was shocked to learn within a year that his solicitor had been struck off and charged with criminal conduct and that Davies had lied to him about the progress of his case against Tailor. O’Driscoll has started again, this time in the small claims court, seeking £10,000 for Tailor’s failure to produce the black briefcase.