Courtroom drama as NESV look to prise Liverpool out of Hicks and Gillett’s ‘dead hands’
Liverpool’s second day in the High Court ended with a judge overturning the injunction placed upon the Reds by their American owners last night, and claiming that: “This case has nothing to do with Texas.”
Tom Hicks and George Gillett took out a temporary restraining order from a Dallas court last night to stop the Reds board from concluding a deal with New England Sports Ventures [NESV] to sell the club.
With Liverpool, NESV and the Royal Bank of Scotland [RBS] – to whom the club owe around £240million – eager to conclude the takeover, all three took their fight back to court 18 of the High Court today, where Justice Floyd found in their favour for the second day in a row.
The ruling now effectively means that NESV can take control of the club, unless Hicks and Gillett have any other desperate tactics that they are willing to employ to try and stop them.
As far as NESV are concerned, they already have ownership of the club, and they had a few less than kind words for their fellow Americans.
“We are the owners, with a capital O,” said the group’s David Chivers. “The owners, with a small o, from beyond the grave are seeking to exercise with their dead hand a continuing grip on this company.”
The attacks on the hapless Hicks and Gillett were no less vicious in the courtroom either.
Lord Grabiner QC, acting for the board of the club, describes the pair's actions as “a grotesque parody, preposterous, unfair, unjust. They are incorrigible.”
Justice Floyd was reportedly staggered that the facts of yesterday’s case – where Hicks and Gillett lost emphatically – were not discussed in the injunction obtained from Dallas.
“It is preposterous,” said Lord Grabiner, “that they will simply go to another jurisdiction – that world famous jurisdiction (to laughter) – because they are not happy with the verdict.
“They want a second bite of the cherry and if it wasn't so serious, it would be a joke. They are probably sitting there now giggling.”
They probably aren’t now.
The verdict places Liverpool in a prime position to proceed with the NESV takeover but, as suggested above, Hicks and Gillett may not have had their last say yet, and legal proceedings in the States tonight could still have an impact.
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