Rhodri Colwyn Philipps, 4th Viscount St Davids (born 16 September 1966) is a British hereditary peer. A businessman and company director, , Philipps had been declared bankrupt three times, had a criminal conviction for

financial mismanagement Financial mismanagement is management that, deliberately or not, is handled in a way that can be characterized as "wrong, bad, careless, inefficient or incompetent" and that will reflect negatively upon the financial standing of a business or indiv ...

and two further convictions for menacing communications, and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for one of the latter.

Titles and family

He is the elder son and heir of British peer

Colwyn Philipps, 3rd Viscount St Davids Colwyn Iestyn John Philipps, 3rd Viscount St Davids (30 January 1939 – 26 April 2009) was a British businessman, Conservative politician and writer on music. Besides his viscountcy, he also held the older titles of Baron Strange of Knockin (1 ...

(d.2009), and Augusta Victoria Correay Larraín (a Chilean national, from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

). Besides his viscountcy, which he inherited on the death of his father, he holds the older titles of

Baron Strange Baron Strange is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. Two creations, one in 1295 and another in 1326, had only one holder each, upon whose deaths they became extinct. Two of the creations, that of 1299 and that ...

Knockin Knockin ( cy, Cnwcin) is a village and civil parish in north-west Shropshire, England. It is located on the B4396 road, around south-east of the town of Oswestry, and from the county town of Shrewsbury. History The former name of Knockin w ...

(1299),

Baron Hungerford Baron Hungerford is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 7 January 1426 for Walter Hungerford, who was summoned to parliament, had been Member of Parliament, Speaker of the House and invested as Knight of the Order of the Garter b ...

(1426), and

Baron de Moleyns Baron Hungerford is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 7 January 1426 for Walter Hungerford, who was summoned to parliament, had been Member of Parliament, Speaker of the House and invested as Knight of the Order of the Garter b ...

(1445), and the baronetcy of

Picton Castle Picton Castle ( cy, Castell Pictwn) is a medieval castle near Haverfordwest in the community of Uzmaston, Boulston and Slebech, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Originally built at the end of the 13th century by a Flemish knight, it later came into the han ...

(1621). He is also a co-heir to the barony of Grey de Ruthyn. Philipps is married to the interior decorator Sarah Louise Butcher, who holds the title Lady St Davids. The

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the viscountcy is his younger brother

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

Legal problems

Financial matters

Philipps has received attention since at least the early 2000s, in relation to his business and legal affairs. He was first declared bankrupt in 2002, and subsequently held directorships in several companies.
In September 2008, having been denied

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

as a flight risk, Philipps spent more than a year in prison in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. Claims were investigated that he used more than £350,000 of company funds on promoting an opera singer, £12,000 to rent a private jet and £5,000 on a shotgun from

James Purdey James Purdey & Sons, or simply Purdey, is a British gunmaker based in London, England specialising in high-end bespoke sporting shotguns and rifles. Purdey holds three Royal Warrants of appointment as gun and rifle makers to the British and other ...

. He was eventually given a two-year suspended prison sentence by a German court for mismanagement of funds related to his construction company Hans Brochier, from which he transferred a seven-figure sum to a newly registered company in the UK in 2005. In 2009 he appealed against the sentence. In September 2010, Philipps' West Sussex property, Strange Place, in

Northchapel Northchapel is a village and civil parish in Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It stands on the A283 road just south of the Surrey border, around 9 km north of Petworth. The village is believed to have taken its name from a churc ...

, was repossessed by

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

. In March 2011, he was declared bankrupt for a second time, and in November 2011 his wife, Viscountess St Davids, was sued for unpaid debts. In March 2012, Philipps unsuccessfully sued offshore legal advisors Corporate & Chancery Group for £110 million in the

Supreme Court of Mauritius The Supreme Court of Mauritius is the highest court of Mauritius and is the final court of appeal in the Mauritian judicial system. It was established in its current form in 1850, replacing the ''Cour d'Appel'' established in 1808 during the Fren ...

, alleging fraud and mismanagement. In February 2016, he was declared bankrupt for a third time.

Menacing communications

Following a complaint made in November 2016, Philipps was arrested in January 2017 by

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

officers investigating online abuse against a 51-year-old woman. In March 2017, he was charged with malicious communications with racially aggravated factors, over alleged threats against

Gina Miller Gina Nadira Miller (' Singh; born 19 April 1965) is a Guyanese-British business owner and activist who initiated the 2016 ''R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'' court case against the British government over its aut ...

, who was behind a successful legal challenge against the UK government's intention to give notice to leave the European Union without an act of parliament. Among other communications, he posted on Facebook: "£5,000 for the first person to 'accidentally' run over this bloody troublesome first generation immigrant" and "If this is what we should expect from immigrants, send them back to their stinking jungles". He pleaded 'not guilty' to three charges of menacing communication under section 127 of the

Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...

when he appeared at

Westminster Magistrates' Court Westminster Magistrates' Court is a magistrates' court at 181 Marylebone Road, London. The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, who is the Senior District Judge of England and Wales, sits at the court, and all extradition and terrorism-rela ...

on 2 May 2017. At the May hearing, the prosecution said the crown would seek an extended sentence because of the racial aggravation factor. He was found guilty of two charges at his trial on 11 July 2017, at which he defended himself. Philipps was also convicted for comments made in response to a news article about an immigrant, in which he had written: "I will open the bidding. £2,000 in cash for the first person to carve Arnold Sube into pieces. Piece of shit". Philipps, who described his own comments as "satire", was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison. He was released on

, pending an appeal. The appeal was abandoned by Philipps on 25 August 2017 some fifteen minutes after Judge Deborah Taylor informed

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, commonly but inaccurately called Southwark Crown Court, is one of two locations of the Crown Court in the London SE1 postcode area, along with the Crown Court at Inner London. Opened in 1983, the brick building is ...

that there was a risk his sentence could be increased. Philipps was then required to serve the remainder of his original sentence.

Arms

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Davids, Rhodri Philipps, 4th Viscount 1966 births Living people People educated at Worth School Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British white-collar criminals British people convicted of hate crimes 20th-century Welsh criminals People convicted of racial hatred offences Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales Barons Strange Barons Hungerford People from Northchapel