Evidence tendered by John Magnier over Tipperary land dispute was ‘entirely false’, court hears – The Irish Times

The billionaire businessman John Magnier brought proceedings over a land dispute in Co Tipperary where the evidence tendered was “entirely false”, a High Court judge has said.

“Lying… that is what happened here,” Mr Justice Max Barrett said on Friday when making an exceptional legal costs order against Mr Magnier.

Mr Justice Max Barrett made the order in relation to a case where, in September, he found against Mr Magnier and in favour of the owners of the 751-acre Barne Estate in Co Tipperary.

The Friday costs hearing was told that Mr Magnier is going to appeal the substantive September judgment.

Total legal costs from the case are estimated to be in the region of €4 million.

Paul Gallagher SC, for Mr Magnier, rejected an accusation his client was engaged in “warfare” or “bulldozer law” in relation to the dispute.

Martin Hayden SC, for the owner of the estate, Richard Thomson-Moore, said the billionaire owner of the Coolmore stud farm in Co Tipperary was strategically leveraging “the imbalance in resources” between the parties.

He was doing this knowing the “devastating consequences” the litigation would have on the defendants, he said.

The Thomson-Moore family has said the estate, which is owned by a trust, cannot be sold until the appeal is heard.

During the trial Anna Thomson-Moore said she and her husband wanted to sell the estate so they could move to Australia where they had family and would receive better care for their young son, Teddy, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and is in need of 24-hour care.

Mr Hayden said Mr Magnier knew this was behind the family’s decision to sell the estate, which was put on the market in July 2023.

Mr Magnier claimed he and Mr Thomson-Moore concluded a sale for €15 million on the evening of August 22nd, 2023, and that it was a binding commitment.

A later offer from New York-based millionaire Maurice Regan of €22.5 million, was accepted by the Thomson-Moores, but has not been concluded.

Mr Magnier claimed the oral agreement he reached during a kitchen-table meeting at Coolmore House on August 22nd, 2023, amounted to a sale. However, Mr Justice Barrett disagreed in his ruling in September and said he was satisfied Mr Magnier knew any deal was subject to trustee approval.

In response to Mr Hayden’s application on Friday, Paul Gallagher SC, for Mr Magnier, said Mr Hayden’s criticisms of his client were to be “roundly condemned as profoundly unfair”. Mr Gallagher said the criticisms that had been made about his client were not “anchored” in the court’s judgment on the case in September.

Although the court had not found in his favour, he said, it was clear Mr Magnier was a “man of honour” who “did deals and abided by them”.

It was unfortunately the case that legal disputes can place “disproportionate” burdens on the litigants, but this did not justify the exceptional costs order that was being sought.

In his judgment in September, Mr Justice Barrett criticised the “shifting sands” of Mr Magnier’s case.

“Whether deliberate or inadvertent, the shift gives the appearance of recollection altered in light of the evolving case presenting,” he said.

On Friday, when delivering his judgment on the costs application, the judge said the case was not one involving two competing truths but a case where “one story was shown to be demonstrably untrue” and then changed with “no explanation”.

The evidence supporting Mr Magnier’s claim was “entirely false”. This was “no way to treat the courts” or legal practitioners, Mr Justice Barrett said. He granted the costs order sought by the defendants.

Mr Hayden, in making his application, said he was not criticising Mr Magnier’s legal team. Mr Magnier’s case, from the outset, “was not a genuine proposition”.

The case lasted 19 days at the Commercial Court. Both sides employed two senior counsel and two junior counsel barristers. Mr Magnier was represented by the law firm Arthur Cox, while Mr Thomson-Moore was represented by Creed McStay LLP.

The costs order means the defendants will now receive legal costs on a legal practitioner and client basis, which will have the effect of Mr Magnier at this stage paying approximately 30 per cent more than would be the case under a standard legal costs order. While legal costs in the case are estimated to be around €4 million, discovery costs, which are not covered by Friday’s ruling, are estimated to be a further €2 million.