LEGAL actions, or the threat of legal actions, seem to follow Ernest Saunders (61), emotionally and physically broken after being "hounded by the establishment" on foot of various creative accounting indiscretions during the attempted Guinness takeover of Distillers way back in 1990.

But, as sure as the head on the pint rises to the top, you cannot keep a former Guinness chairman and chief executive for long. Saunders, sentenced to five years behind bars, (not the sort that dispense pints) served only 10 months, granted early release due to what was described as an incurable and progressive illness.

Poor old Ernest, far from languishing in a maximum security retirement home instead struck a blow against ageism, fighting back to full recovery. Today, not so poor and not so old, he is a senior executive in the Harper Group, a US based multi-national informational systems concern, reportedly earning £400,000 a year with a package of perks including the use of a private jet.

However the dreaded wigs and gowns are again bunching on the sidelines, with reports this week that Saunders has been threatened with legal action by the company's founder, who claims falling profit forecasts have eroded the value of his shareholding. Ernest, the great survivor, has the support of the board which "strongly deny" the criticisms, saying the row pre-dates his arrival. No bad going for a man who allegedly was once unable to recall three numbers backward.