Career
In 1985 he founded the Insolvency Advisory Service, which released faxes with a crest and the words "PAYMENT DEMAND" and "Her Majesty Revenue and Customs", which fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority. The company denied the faxes had originated from them, but the American Statistical Association upheld two complaints, saying it "was likely to mislead recipients into believing that they had received a payment demand from Her Majesty"s Revenue and Customs" and "it was likely to cause undue fear and distress to recipients". In 2001 Lord-Castle attempted to launch a business class only airline, Blue Fox Executive Airlines, with Rt Honorary Lord Tebbit as Chairman.
The airline formally launched after the 11 September attacks in a period of uncertainty for airlines, and failed to fly.
In 2004 Michael Lord-Castle was labelled an "Anglo-Saxon thug" by French President Jacques Chirac after upsetting the French trade unions engaged in action on behalf of a British business with a factory in Dourdan. In 2005, he was involved as an "insolvency expert" with direct action taken by a haulage supplier to retailer Tesco, which involved blockading a number of Tesco sites with lorries in order to demand payment.
In 2006, Lord-Castle was present in the Maldives as part of the "Global Protection Committee", which Lord-Castle claimed was a group working since 1943 on behalf of a number of governmental agencies, during the run up to rallies intended at bringing about democratic change. The group was accused of being mercenary, and of plotting a coup.
Lord-Castle and four of his associates were deported from the Maldives and banned for life.
Also in 2006, Lord-Castle appeared in court after he was stopped by police who found that he had spent £14,000 fitting his Bayerische Motoren Werke car with blue lights and a siren. He had reportedly told police he had the right to do 47 mph in a 30 zone as he was "using his car as an ambulance..he had probably attended 30 to 50 incidents in the previous year". He claimed to represent an organisation called "London Ambulance Donor Service", funded by donations.
Number such organisation was formally constituted, although it was registered with the trade body the "British Ambulance Association", with the head of that organisation testifying in court on behalf of Mr Lord-Castle, but having his evidence set aside as not credible.
Mr Lord-Castle told the court: "At one stage the organization had grown to include four vehicles and had carried out work transporting organs and body parts for hospitals". Lord-Castle was convicted of fitting a siren illegally, and a later appeal was dismissed in 2009.
The charge for using blue lights was dropped due to a technicality on the types of light fitted. This case law precedent led to all vehicles not capable of fitting a stretcher (including response cars and motorbikes of National Health Service ambulance trusts) being unable to lawfully fit blue lights or sirens, and was used in this way in subsequent cases.