I suppose my greatest regret was that in the end we failed."The investor who offered to save the Maxwell group just days before its collapse in late 1991 with pounds 400m of new capital was Roger Tamraz, a Middle Eastern industrialist who represented a syndicate of powerful investors, including, so Kevin was told, the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi. The crash came when the banks withdrew their support even though Mr Tamraz was actively arranging a three-year support plan.Mr Jones asked if there had been a time when he thought he could or should get out of it all and leave the group. "I regret the absence of board colleagues who would stand up to my father. I don't know anybody who stood up to him in the 10 years I was part of the business."Questioned by his defence counsel, Alun Jones QC, Kevin denied he set out to defraud pensioners. "Our motivation was not, to put it crudely, to sit down and defraud pensioners with my father or with others. It was to save the group."It was to maintain the value of the assets and to meet all of the obligations. A culture where professionals were servants and not advisers and teachers."He said this attitude damaged the business and ultimately contributed to its collapse.

Kevin said that his father's overbearing administration had blighted his business education "I regret that. The business was conducted in a culture where professional advisers, lawyers, advised my father how to stretch the law to its limits. The order was automatically discharged in September because he co-operated with his trustees in bankruptcy.The jury has heard that Robert Maxwell dominated everyone who worked for him. I don't know anyone involved in the management of the business who does not feel immense regret for the consequences of the collapse."The court was told that he had also suffered and had been made personally bankrupt for pounds 400m.

JOHN WILLCOCK Financial Correspondent Kevin Maxwell told yesterday of his "personal sense of shame" at the suffering of pensioners caught up in the collapse of his father's business empire.Kevin, who has been giving evidence in his own defence for 12 days at the Old Bailey fraud trial, said: "I feel a personal sense of shame at the failure and my share in that failure and the consequences of it."He spoke of the company's creditors, bankers and workers, who had all been adversely affected by the crash "Also for the pensioners who for a time suffered. He [Richard] was a mild-mannered and harmless 15-year-old boy who presented an easy target."Throughout the trial, both the judge and Mr Bevan urged the jury not to allow themselves to be "sidetracked" by the racism thought to have provoked the attack.. I'd like to thank the police for what was a very difficult investigation."The last 14 months have been a living nightmare for us and we are grateful that this part of it is over and we now want to get back to repairing what is left of our lives."Detective Superintendent Derek Bell, who led the investigation, said there were no plans to continue investigating the case, but added: "If any further evidence comes to light I shall review it."Richard Everitt was stabbed after a group of 10 young Asians took it upon themselves to take revenge on a white teenager called Liam, who they believed had stolen jewellery from one of their friends.At the start of the trial, which began on 5 October, John Bevan, for the prosecution, told the jury: "It is plain the group's blood was up Their purpose was to punish Liam or anyone else convenient. "You two alone stand to carry the can for what happened on that night."Akbar, 19, also of King's Cross, was sentenced to three years in a youth detention centre after the jury found him guilty of violent disorder.After the case, Richard Everitt's parents, Mandy and Norman, said: "We'd just to say we are extremely pleased with the verdict.

No sentence I pass will restore that life which was so cruelly taken."However, Judge Steel acknowledged that whoever had administered the fatal stab wound had not been brought to justice. The court was told during the trial told that some of the gang had returned to Bangladesh, but the judge said Miah and another defendant, Showkat Akbar, were the "ringleaders" of the attack on Everitt. JOHN McKIE A man responsible for a "cowardly and brutal" gang attack on a 15-year- old schoolboy was jailed for life for his murder at the Old Bailey yesterday. Badrul Miah, 20, had boasted they had "stabbed up a white boy" shortly after Richard Everitt collapsed dying on a north London pavement.Miah was the ringleader of a 10 strong Asian mob who were bent on racial revenge in the Somers Town area of north London on 13 August last year.After five and a half hours' deliberation, the jury found Miah guilty by a majority verdict of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.Judge Heather Steel told Miah, 20, of King's Cross: "A 15-year-old innocent boy was cruelly killed for no apparent reason."It was a wicked crime. On the other hand, retail-based services, such as solicitors, will become an increasingly important focal point of visits to high streets.". Mintel believes the high street can survive into the next century but in a different form. It will become increasingly dominated by doctors, solicitors, estate agents, restaurants and speciality shops.Mr Rickard said: "We see the high street 2000 as being a lot smaller and containing fewer retail businesses than it does today.