Ashley ordered to pay SFA and Rangers legal costs.

[boabie 230]

" Mike Ashley has been ordered by a judge to pay legal bills for the Scottish FA and Dave King.

 

The Sports Direct tycoon's lawyers were told on Thursday that the their client will have to pay the football governing body and the Rangers chairman's costs.

 

STV News understands the SFA's costs amount to around £100,000 and King's a low five-figure sum.

 

Ashley had abandoned a judicial review at Edinburgh's Court of Session in which he wanted judge Lord Bannatyne to overturn the SFA's decision to class King as a "fit and proper person" to be involved in football.

 

However, the Newcastle United owner had dropped the action in April 2016 shortly after receiving information about King's finances.

 

The information had been used by the SFA in their May 2015 deliberations and Ashley's decision to stop the action came on the first day of proceedings. "

 

 

http://stv.tv/news/west-central/1358382-mike-ashley-ordered-to-pay-dave-king-and-sfa-legal-costs/?

[ian1964 10,457]

BILLIONAIRE businessman Mike Ashley has suffered another set back in his battle with Rangers after a civil judge ruled the Newcastle United owner has to pay the SFA’s legal bills.

 

The Sports Direct supremo’s lawyers were told on Thursday that the their client will have to pay the costs of Dave King and Scottish football’s governing body.

 

The entrepreneur had abandoned a judicial review at Edinburgh’s Court of Session.

 

He had wanted judge Lord Bannatyne to overturn the SFA’s decision to class Rangers chairman Dave King as a “fit and proper person” to be involved in football.

 

However, Ashley had dropped the action in April 2016 shortly after receiving information about Mr King’s finances.

 

The info had been used by the SFA in their May 2015 deliberations and Mr Ashley’s decision to stop the action came on the first day of proceedings.

 

Ashley’s legal team argued that he shouldn’t have need to pay the football watchdog’s costs. The usual legal convention is that the side who loses a civil case are the people who meet the costs.

 

His advocate Craig Sandison QC argued that an exception to the convention should be made in this particular case.

 

He told the hearing that if Mr Ashley had been given the information at an earlier stage, he would not have gone to the Court of Session.

 

However, Lord Bannatyne disagreed with the argument.

 

In a written judgement issued on Thursday, the judge ruled that Mike Ashley should meet the costs incurred by the action.

 

He wrote: “On the primary issue argued before me regarding the awarding of expenses, I am clearly of the view that the petitioners’ argument should be rejected.

 

“I am persuaded that there is no proper basis for not following the normal rule that expenses should follow success.

 

“Where a party seeks on the morning of a first hearing to have the action dismissed then that party in my opinion must be held to have been unsuccessful.

 

“It cannot be said that in these circumstances the respondent and interested party have been other than successful in their defence of the petition.

 

“The argument put forward by Mr Sandison that the circumstances herein justified an exception to the normal rule was in my opinion misconceived.”

 

The latest decision comes just weeks after fellow Court of Session judge Lord Brodie had ruled the SFA were correct to fine Mike Ashley for breaking ownership rules.

 

Mr Ashley – who owns an 8.92 per cent stake in Rangers - was fined £1,000 for his involvement with the newly promoted Scottish Premiership side and the ‘Toon.

 

However, Mr Ashley wanted to overturn the decision of the SFA to allow Dave King to become involved with Rangers.

 

The judicial review against Mr King was brought by MASH Holdings Limited.

 

The company is the ownership mechanism in which Mr Ashley holds his Rangers shares in.

 

Mr Ashley initially believed that the SFA should have allowed Mr King to participate in the day to day running of Rangers.

 

This was because the businessman had once admitted to 41 breaches of the South African Income Tax Act and had agreed to pay a £43.7 million settlement to the government there.

 

However, Mr Ashley had abandoned the action after receiving the information which was used by the SFA to justify their decision.

 

During the hearing last month, the SFA’s advocate Roddy Dunlop QC argued that Mr Ashley’s alleged conduct and his decision to drop the proceedings should result in him paying all costs.

 

Mr Dunlop told the court: “It is my submission that the petitioner in this case is pursuing a vendetta against Mr King and that my clients, the respondents, are simply the collateral damage in pursuit of this vendetta.”

 

Mr Dunlop also urged Lord Bannatyne to consider the remarks made by Mr Justice Peter Smith in the High Court in London.

 

The judge was hearing submissions in a case which had been brought by Sports Direct against Rangers.

 

However, in his judgement, Lord Bannatyne said he disagreed with the submission that Mr Ashley was pursuing a vendetta against Mr King in the judicial review proceedings.

 

Lord Bannatyne wrote: “Mr Dunlop submitted that the same vendetta identified in the above case was being pursued here and the respondents were collateral damage in this.

 

“I do not believe that there is evidence before the court which would entitle me to hold that the present judicial review proceedings were in essence an abuse of process in that they were no more than part of an ongoing vendetta by Mr Ashley against the interested party.

 

“For the above reasons I find the petitioner’s liable to the respondent and interested party in the expense of the petition and proceedings.”

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...#ixzz4COs0m55H

[MacK1950 2,250]

Ashley has been told he has to pay costs of hearing.Around £100,000 to SFA and low five figure sum to Dave King.

[buster. 4,808]

Written judgement

https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=a77617a7-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7

 

Mr MASH had to pay costs but got away with paying additional sums that were asked for by counsel for DK.

[MacK1950 2,250]

Ashley has been told he has to pay costs of hearing.Around £100,000 to SFA and low five figure sum to Dave King.

[stewarty 1,878]

These tanks of his are terrible.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Whipped him again Dave, Ashley must hate the words '' Costs awarded to the Defendant''

 

Another one of Ashley's cheep Taiwanese Tanks blown to pieces.