Fake tea scandal: Professor reveals how he helped police bag scammer who claimed his brew was 'the Queen's favourite'

Published: 19:01, 20 July 2026 | Updated: 19:01, 20 July 2026 A plant scientist has told how he helped bring down a conman who was jailed after making more than £1million selling fake Scottish tea. Professor David Burslem, of Aberdeen University, worked with victims to expose 56-year-old Thomas Robinson. The conman bought tea from around the world and sold it to luxury hotels and department stores as Scottish-grown. Trading as The Wee Tea Plantation company, Robinson rented land near Loch Tay in Perthshire, supplying The Balmoral in Edinburgh with his brew. He even claimed he was told the tea he supplied to The Dorchester in London was ‘the Queen’s favourite’. Robinson, who also went by the names Thomas O’Brien and Tam O’Braan, had actually purchased over a tonne of tea grown abroad, repackaged it and sold it on. He also supplied 22,000 plants to a dozen other growers in Scotland, as well as one in Jersey, at £12.50 each. He imported them from Italy at £2.50 each. When the tea growers became suspicious, they turned to Professor Burslem, who developed a method of testing the geographical origin of the tea. Thomas Robinson purchased over a tonne of tea grown abroad, repackaged it and sold it on He compared Robinson’s product with samples of genuine Scottish tea and that which was grown overseas. His analysis showed the tea was foreign. Robinson was sentenced at Stirling Sheriff Court to three-and-a-half years in prison in June last year. His case has featured on an episode of BBC documentary series Expert Witness. Professor Burslem told the programme: ‘Plants take elements into their tissues dependent on the soils in which they grow. ‘You have to measure very low concentrations of these elements in a way that allows you to associate them to the location where the tea was grown. ‘The samples that were supplied from Tam O’Braan’s facility were chemically different from the authentically grown Scottish teas.’ The professor later carried out further tests for Food Standards Scotland, who launched a probe into Robinson. The conman disguised his fraud by getting the foreign tea delivered to a mailbox address in Glasgow and paying for it through a private bank account. Professor David Burslem, of Aberdeen University, worked with victims to expose Robinson When a buyer acting for upmarket store Fortnum & Mason in London wanted to visit, Robinson purchased tea plants from Sussex and put them in the ground for show. He claimed his tea was able to thrive in Scotland, despite its colder climate, using a ‘special biodegradable polymer’ which prosecutors said resembled a black bin liner. Robinson, of Amulree, Perthshire, was found guilty of defrauding the tea growers of £274,354 and the hotels and tea companies of £278,634 between 2014 and 2019. But a proceeds of crime hearing held in March heard he had made £1,068,000 from his criminal conduct. His web of fantasy included that he sold tea to Kensington Palace, was a multi-millionaire, a polymer scientist, invented the ‘Bag For Life’, served in the British Army in bomb disposal and worked for the Barack Obama administration. The Expert Witness episode will be shown on BBC One at 10.45am on Wednesday.