Sentences due today in UK Marine hose case

ERJ staff report (DS)

London -- Bryan Allison, David Brammar and Peter Whittle admitted participating in a price-fixing ring in marine hose yesterday at Southwark Crown Court in London. Allison and Brammar worked for Dunlop Oil & Marine, now part of the Continental AG empire. Whittle was a self-employed consultant who worked for Dunlop Oil & Marine.

"This is the very first prosecution'' for criminal antitrust conduct in the U.K.,said prosecuting Counsel, Mark Lucraft QC. Participators in the cartel required, "active, not passive, dishonesty.," he continued.

Lawyers for the three men said they had admitted guilt, adding that in Allison's case, , " involvement in the cartel was simply a fact of life in a firm he had joined from university,"

The men were due to be sentenced today.