Ashley tells court that £15m pub night claim is nonsense

NEWCASTLE UNITED owner and Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley has hit back after being sued by an investment banker who told a High Court judge that he staged business meetings in pubs.

Mr Ashley said Jeffrey Blue’s claim was “nonsense” and he said he was angry.

He said he was not “Obi-Wan Kenobi running the Death Star” and he did not take “serious decisions” on “drunken nights out”.

The 52-year-old businessman was giving evidence on the third day of a High Court trial in London.

Mr Blue says Mr Ashley promised to pay him £15m, if he used his expertise to increase Sports Direct’s share price to £8 a share, during a meeting in a central London pub.

He says Mr Ashley paid only £1m and he wants £14m damages.

Mr Ashley, who referred to Mr Blue as “that liar”, denies the claim.

He says the £1m he paid Mr Blue was not related to any agreement allegedly made in a pub.

Mr Justice Leggatt began analysing evidence at the High Court trial on Monday.

The judge has heard the dispute between Mr Blue and Mr Ashley centres on a conversation in the Horse and Groom pub four years ago.

Mr Blue has told the judge that Mr Ashley is a “serious businessman”.

He said the work ethic at Sports Direct was “like nothing else I have ever seen”.

But he said Mr Ashley sometimes did business “in unorthodox ways and in unusual venues”.

Mr Blue told Mr Justice Leggatt how Mr Ashley vomited into a fireplace after a Sports Direct senior management meeting which was “effectively a pub lockin”.

He said Mr Ashley would also nap under tables at “boring” meetings.

The trial is due to end next week.

Mr Ashley outlined his case in a written witness statement before being questioned by barrister Jeffrey Chapman QC, who is leading Mr Blue’s legal team.

Mr Ashley added: “I find it incredible that Mr Blue is actually suggesting that I made a binding agreement for £15m.”

The hearing continues.