Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE DID NOT WIPE EMAILS TO AVOID CLAIMS BY CARL
Court told deletions were part of wider move
BARRY Mcguigan’s promoter son yesterday denied thousands of company emails were wiped to avoid aiding boxer Carl Frampton’s claim for up to £6million in alleged unpaid earnings.
Blain Mcguigan told the High Court all deletions were simply part of a wider move by Cyclone Promotions to free up space on their systems.
His father is locked in a legal battle with the North Belfast fighter he managed to world title glory before their acrimonious split in 2017.
Mr Frampton is suing for alleged withheld purse fees and profit shares, while his ex-manager is counterclaiming for breach of contract over the b o xe r ’s d e p a r tu re from the Mcguigan f a m i l y ’s C y c l o n e organisation.
On day 16 of the case Blain Mcguigan was cross-examined about the non-disc l o su re of e mai l s connected to eight fights under scrutiny.
He told the Belfast court how the company decided to switch its online systems from one account provider to another in 2017.
As part of the migration process a “core team” of directors involved in Cyclone operations – Blain, his mother Sandra and brother Jake – were advised to delete surplus emails no longer relevant to future events.
Mr Mcguigan told the court it involved getting rid of huge amounts of correspondence from previous shows to free up space.
He said: “I think I had tens of thousands of emails at that point.”
The musician turned promoter confirmed the process included eight of the boxer’s contests going back to 2013 because they were “not relevant moving forward”.
Challenged by Gavin Millar QC, for Mr Frampton, about the consequences for dealing with any subsequent commercial disagreement, he replied: “I wasn’t anticipating a dispute in June 2017.”
During exchanges the barrister questioned the truthfulness of his evidence.
Mr Mcguigan insisted: “It’s absolutely true.”
According to counsel there would have been thousands of emails on the accounts of Mcguigan family members working on the fight promotions.
Further questions were raised over suggestions that the technical process of switching service providers caused thousands of emails to be lost.
Mr Millar said: “You heard my cross-examination of your father, when I put to him those emails I have
I think I had tens of thousands of emails at this point BLAIN MCGUIGAN BELFAST YESTERDAY
just put to you, showing the migration exercise was successful.” Referring to the death last year of his actress sister Danika, Mr Mcguigan replied: “My father is not technologically minded, and to be perfectly honest with you in the past year he hasn’t been very well minded in general since what’s happened to our family, so I wouldn’t necessarily think my dad would remember exactly what went on at that point.”
But Mr Millar submitted: “What you have done since that earlier testimony and cross-examination in the case is come up with an account of why there’s been no disclosure of any emails relating to my client’s fights from your side in the case.
“It avoids the problem the migration exercise didn’t result in any irretrievable emails. You have come up with a different account, haven’t you?”
Mr Mcguigan responded: “No, that’s not true.”
The court also heard that before being appointed as a director of a Northern Ireland-based Cyclone
Promotions company in 2013, he played in indie rock bands.
He said: “I was a working musician, whichever jobs came up I would do.”
It emerged during the hearing that, according to company accounts, Blain Mcguigan was paid a total of around £220,000 over a five-year period. Earnings included £41,000 in 2014, Cyclone’s first calendar year.
He said: “I didn’t necessarily see it as a salary, I saw it as my payment for working for the company.”
Mr Frampton’s case involves an alleged conflict of interests in Barry Mcguigan’s dual role as manager and
promoter of his contests. One of the bouts examined was the boxer’s defeat of French opponent Jeremy Parodi at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena in October 2013 to retain the European Super Bantamweight title.
Blain Mcguigan rejected suggestions that his father had the final say on the undercard, insisting he was the one who “curated” the rest of the bill.
Mr Millar contended: “They were weak and cheap undercards to enable you to maximise profits.” But the witness described his assessment as “insulting”. The hearing continues.