Email ‘did not imply bosses were selling their shares’: pilot

AN INTERIM council member of the Ryan air Pilot Group (RPG) has denied that an email circulated by the group implied the airline’s managers were selling their shares in advance of a profit warning.

Captain Ted Murphy, who is a former president of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association, also denied in the High Court that the email sent to 2,289 pilots was defamatory and said it was not the RPG’s intention to harm anyone.

He was on his second day of cross-examination in Ryanair’s ongoing case against him and two other RPG council members, Ever tV anZwol and John Goss. They deny defamation over the September 2013 email ‘pilot update: what the markets are saying about Ryan air ’.

Putto him by Thomas Hogan SC, for Ryan air, that nobody else had been suggesting before the update that there was a sell-off of shares by managers during the summer ahead of a pro fit warning, Mr Murphy said that was no t what the update was saying and not how he interpreted it.

He did no t accept the update was false and misleading. He said the RPG members “never intended to do what yo u are accusing us of ”.

He accepted, as had his co defendants, there was one error about a date in the update in relation to the share sale, late rather than mid-June, 2013. It did not register with him or his co -defendants that this was incorrect until this case started. Had it been pointed out from the beginning by Ryanair, they would have made a correction in relation to the date, he said.

Counsel said it beggared belief that the date was not discussed before the case started. Mr Murphy said :“I am sorry it beggars belief, but we did no t.”

He disagreed the email list of 2,289 pilots was a “hotch potch list of contact email sand no thing mo re”.

Ever tV anZwol and John Go ss were recalled yesterday to be further cross-examined in relation to an email found during the course of the trial by RPG consultant Martin Duffy in which a reference was made to directors selling off shares in advance of bad market news.

Mr Van Zwo l disagreed with Martin Hayden SC, for Ryan air, that this email showed the concept of managers selling off shares had been discussed by the RPG group during pr e-update communications.

Mr G os sr ejected suggestions he did not care about having the right date in the update and all the RPG wanted to do was to say that management was selling shares ahead of bad news. Speeches and Mr Justice Bernard Barton’ s charge to the jury will take place next week.