THREE former Rams bosses believed they were above the law when they committed financial crimes at the club, a judge has said.

Judge Ian Alexander QC made the point as he sentenced Murdo Mackay, Andrew Mackenzie and Jeremy Keith to a combined seven-and-a-half years in prison at Northampton Crown Court yesterday.

The hearing followed the convictions of ex-director of football Mackay and former finance director Mackenzie last month of conspiring to defraud Derby County of £375,000 plus VAT, or a proportion of that money.

Mackay, 53, of Alicante, admitted taking a cut of the cash but claimed it had been a legitimate payment for brokering a deal to secure a loan for the club.

Mackenzie, 55, of Littleover, Derby, had denied receiving any money.

Former chief executive Jeremy Keith, 44, of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was convicted of false accounting in the removal of some or all of the £375,000 plus VAT.

In passing sentence yesterday, Judge Alexander said the trio somehow gave the impression that they did not believe the rules applied to them.

He said: "It struck me during the trial that you, like so many people who commit business and professional crime, somehow give the impression that you do not believe the rules apply to you and that what you do in your business life is perfectly acceptable.

"There is however only one standard of honesty and it applies to us all. In our system it is for a jury of your peers, having been properly directed as to the law, to decide if your behaviour meets that standard of honesty or not."

Keith was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was disqualified from being a director of a company for three years.

Mackenzie and Mackay were given three years each in prison and were both disqualified as directors for five years.

A fourth man, solicitor David Lowe, 58, of Monaco, was given a two-year jail sentence for helping the trio. He had been found guilty of money laundering.

Mackay, Mackenzie and Keith took their money as payment for securing a £15m loan for the club as it struggled with debt in October 2003.

The prosecution claimed they had taken the payments without permission of the club's board, and then deliberately hid them.

Judge Alexander said he did not believe the club would have gone out of existence without the loan.

He said: "I do accept it gave the club a breathing space but the evidence of other interested parties and the evidence that two other owners or group of owners have come forward since your departure shows that the club would have survived without your intervention.

"It is a famous club. I was told it was one of the original members of the League; the chances of it vanishing were remote."

The judge addressed each defendant and their mitigation in turn.

The judge referred to a suggestion made by Mackenzie's lawyer, David Howker QC, that the sums involved in the trial would not result in public outrage if he were not sent to prison.

He said: "Whether or not this is so I do not know.

"I suspect the fans of Derby County Football Club might be outraged but this court does not sentence on the basis of public disapproval or outrage."

He said that Howard Godfrey QC's claims that his client, Mackay, was not a fast-buck fraudster had been proven wrong by the evidence.

And he said the suggestion from Paul Mann QC, Keith's counsel, that he should receive a suspended sentence was not justified.

Judge Alexander made it clear he was disgusted that Lowe, a former solicitor of the Supreme Court, should be involved in the crime.

He later said he was surprised that Lowe had been told he would not lose his position as a Wimbledon tennis steward. He said: "I would have thought that a money laundering solicitor was not much of a role model, but that is a matter for your association."

Derby County fans said they were delighted with the sentences and hoped they would send out a strong message.

John Hemsworth, chairman of Derby County Supporters' Clubs, said: "They have been found guilty through the courts and they must now pay the penalty.

"Hopefully the harshness of the sentences will deter other people from doing anything similar in the future."

Another fan, Gary McVeigh, who attended the sentencing, said the prison terms were a brave move from the judge.

Mr McVeigh, 51, of Fosberry Close, Northampton, said; "I'm very surprised. I didn't expect that at all.

"I presume he has taken everything into account and decided a message should be sent out. I was impressed with the judge today and throughout the mitigation."

The 18-month police investigation into the trio was led by Detective Sergeant Ian Penman, who said: "The sentences were purely a matter for the court and the judge. His sentences show how seriously he viewed the case."

A Derby County spokesman said the club had nothing to add to its previous statement which said the trial had been a "sorry chapter in the proud history" of the club.

He did, however, confirm that the Rams are looking to claw back the £375,000 plus VAT taken by Mackay, Keith, and Mackenzie.

In total the investigation and subsequent trial of the three, Lowe and another alleged accomplice, Mark Waters, cost the taxpayer £1.5m.

Mr Waters was found not guilty of false accounting.

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Full transcript of the sentencing