YOU’RE ALL LIARS!
Judge slams Bling Brothers despite £132million court victory over bitter rival
BILLIONAIRE brothers Nick and Christian Candy were branded liars by a High Court judge yesterday – as he announced they had won a £132million legal battle.
The property tycoons, dubbed the Bling Brothers due to their lavish lifestyles, heard the court dismiss a series of claims that they had bullied, blackmailed and intimidated a businessman.
But the judge said the brothers and accuser Mark Holyoake had all been ‘willing to lie’ in their extraordinary high-stakes business deal, adding: ‘None of the protagonists emerge from the trial with great credit.’
Nick Candy’s wife Holly Valance, a former pop star and Neighbours actress, later tweeted a photo of her husband with TV presenters David Walliams, Jimmy Carr and Vernon Kay, writing: ‘Celebratory lunch with the boys.’
The 34-year-old also wrote: ‘Ain’t that somethin’! You lose. On Every. Single. Claim !!!!!! ’ She also posted a picture of a woman sipping tea with the caption: ‘That moment when you witness karma in its full, glorious splendour.’
Father-of-one Nick was also photographed holding a card that read: ‘Congratulations Daddy, you’re a winner.’
Mr Holyoake had claimed the Candy brothers coerced him into deals that saw him repay more than £37million on a £12million loan.
He alleged the pair had behaved like Mafia gangsters, and Christian Candy had threatened to put him ‘in a deep dark hole’.
During the case, he gave evidence that Christian, 43, had threatened his pregnant wife.
However, High Court judge Mr Justice Nugee dismissed all of his claims, saying there had been some ‘blunt language’ but Mr Holyoake should not have been surprised that businessmen took a ‘tough line’ on the loan. He said: ‘Mr Holyoake repeatedly lied – including in a
‘Well-practised liars and forgers of documents’
formal statement of case for this action – and he and his associates resorted to forgery, deceit and impersonation. Mr Christian Candy, with the encouragement of his brother, told a series of deliberate lies to Mr Holyoake. The judgment finds, however, that none of Mr Holyoake’s claims has been made out.’
The court heard the case had cost the brothers and their business associates more than £11.4million in legal fees, and they would not be able to recoup it all.
Roger Stewart QC, for Mr Holyoake, argued it would be unfair for him to pay all the Candys’ legal fees, as the case had been delayed partly by their lies and late disclosure of evidence.
The judge ordered Mr Holyoake, 44, to make an interim payment of £5.7million and will rule on the final total payment next month.
Mr Holyoake was a university friend of Nick, 44, and approached him for a loan in 2011 when an investor pulled out of a £42million property deal. Christian loaned him the money, with a 20 per cent interest rate and an agreement that he would also receive 30 per cent of the net profit on the investment project in Belgravia.
Mr Holyoake agreed to the terms, but claimed he was then forced into further deals which meant he had effectively been charged interest of more than 74 per cent on the loan.
After the ruling, he said he was ‘in a state of disbelief’ that he had lost the case and intended to launch an appeal.
He said: ‘Anyone reading the judgment will see that there are currently no winners here.’
The Candys – best known for their luxury development One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge – said in a statement: ‘The judgment shows that Mr Holyoake and his accomplices are well-practised liars and forgers of documents, and Mr Holyoake even lied to the court repeatedly as part of the High Court proceedings.’
They said the case had ‘caused unwarranted damage to our personal and business lives’.