Judge clears the Candy brothers of loan intimidation claims
A PROPERTY developer who sued the millionaire Candy brothers over a £12m loan has vowed to appeal against a judgment that dismissed his claims.
Mark Holyoake said he was “in a state of disbelief” over the outcome of the case, heard in the High Court, in which a number of claims about alleged harassment and intimidation were aired.
Handing down a judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Nugee said the brothers had not been guilty of the behaviour of which Mr Holyoake accused them, including allegations that Christian Candy threatened Mr Holyoake’s wife while she was pregnant. The judge said: “None of the protagonists emerge from the trial with great credit. Each has been shown to have been willing to lie when they consider their commercial interests justify them doing so.”
The judge added that Mr Holyoake had “repeatedly lied” and that “he and his associates resorted to forgery, deceit and impersonation”.
He also said: “Christian Candy, with the encouragement of his brother, told a series of deliberate lies to Mr Holyoake.”
The dispute began when Christian Candy’s company CPC lent Mr Holyoake £12m in 2011 to finance a property development scheme.
The brothers claimed that Mr Holyoake defaulted on the terms of the loan. He in turn alleged that they had intimidated him and his family over its repayment, and demanded £132m in payment and damages. During the trial, Mr Holyoake’s wife Emma told the court that she had feared for her husband’s life because of the brothers’ links to Scot Young and Boris Berezovsky, who died in mysterious circumstances. The Candy brothers denied all claims of harassment.
The court heard earlier this year that directors at CPC had become “enormously frustrated by Mr Holyoake’s dissembling, dishonesty, broken promises and changes of position”.
Mr Justice Nugee said that because Mr Holyoake did not have assets of £120m, as he had claimed, the brothers were “entitled to treat the loan as [in] default” and so their behaviour had not been unlawful. He also dismissed claims that Christian Candy threatened to “take a wrecking ball to his assets and leave him with nothing”.
Following the decision, Nick and Christian Candy said: “It has taken a great deal of time and effort to win this case and it has caused unwarranted damage to our personal and business lives.”
Mr Holyoake said: “We, the claimants, are in a state of disbelief that Mr Justice Nugee has not ruled in our favour.” The Candy brothers are now looking for more than £11m in costs from Mr Holyoake, with the judge ordering that he pay half the amount, £5.7m, by Jan 11.