csconstantine.com

{ Liverpool's former owners Tom Hicks, left, and George Gillett have been prevented from proceeding with their claim in Dallas, or anywhere outside England. Photograph: Dave Thompson/AP

The claims by Liverpool's former owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, that they were "swindled" out of "millions of dollars" when the club was sold in October, will be heard in London, probably next year, following a decision in the high court. The judge, Mr Justice Floyd, maintained a ban on the pair pursuing a court action in Dallas, Texas, where they had argued the sale was "an epic swindle" and "conspiracy" against them.

In his 17-page judgment, Mr Justice Floyd severely criticised Hicks and Gillett for taking their case to Dallas on the same day, 13 October, that they were prevented in the high court in London from blocking the sale. Describing that attempt as "vexatious" and "unconscionable", the judge said the pair had "misled" their own lawyer in Texas, who in turn misled the Dallas court, about the proceedings in London.

Mr Justice Floyd ruled in October that Liverpool's former chairman Sir Martin Broughton and two fellow Liverpool directors, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre, did have the right to sell the club to John Henry's New England Sports Ventures (now Fenway Sports Group), for the price of repaying the club's £200m debts to Royal Bank of Scotland. In their claim in Dallas, Hicks and Gillett argued the sale was "an epic swindle at the hands of rogue corporate directors, Broughton, Ayre and Purslow [who] … conspired to sell the iconic Liverpool Football Club … at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value".

The high court here responded by awarding those Liverpool directors, RBS and Fenway an "anti-suit injunction", preventing Hicks and Gillett from proceeding with their claim in Dallas, or anywhere outside England. The former owners sought this month to have that overturned, and to proceed in Dallas, but Mr Justice Floyd upheld it, ruling that any action must take place here, because Hicks and Gillett agreed to that when Broughton was appointed chairman in April 2010.

Detailing their attempt to bring the case in Dallas in October, the judge said Hicks and Gillett had not told their own lawyer in Texas that they had just lost in the English court. Their lawyer also told the Dallas judge that they could not seek their injunction, to block the sale, in London because "the courts were closed".

That was untrue, said Mr Justice Floyd. He concluded there was "a strong case" that "the former owners decided to withhold information from [their] Texan counsel and from the Texan court, and indeed fed him with incorrect information". Floyd said he found it "difficult to accept" that the pair were not being "vexatious", by making that application in Dallas.

"I granted [the anti-suit] injunction on the basis of what appeared to me the unconscionable conduct of the former owners in seeking to undermine the English proceedings," he said.

The anti-suit injunction was upheld, meaning Hicks's and Gillett's version of the Liverpool sale must be heard in London. Broughton and RBS have themselves asked the court to declare that they conducted the sale properly and honestly. RBS is seeking a declaration that it was not part of "an actionable conspiracy"; Broughton that he "is not liable to [Hicks and Gillett] for breach of any duty as a director".

Representatives here and in the US of Hicks, who has taken the lead in the court proceedings, did not respond to the Guardian's requests for comment, but Hicks and Gillett are expected to mount arguments in court similar to their blocked Dallas claim. Liverpool sources indicated the case is likely to be finally decided next year.

Liverpool said in a statement: "We are delighted that the anti-suit injunction prohibiting the former owners from commencing legal actions outside the EU has been upheld. Sir Martin, RBS and [Fenway] continue to maintain there is no basis to challenge the propriety or validity of any actions by them in the sale of the club."

Agences de presses

Labels: aposepic, claim, George, Gillett, Guardian, Hicks, swindleapos