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Chris Skelton / Stuff
Eric Watson claimed he had no assets to fund a deal with and his only prospect of paying Kea was through money earned in the future.
The positive Covid-19 test played a role in New Zealand businessman and wealthy ex-lister Eric Watson receiving a reduced sentence for contempt of court, says a British High Court judge.
Watson is also unlikely to be successful if he tries to appeal the four-month prison sentence, which he must serve immediately, the judge said.
A long-standing legal process between Watson and former business partner and philanthropist Sir Owen Glenn came to a head in the High Court of England and Wales this month when Watson was sentenced to prison for contempt of court, after withholding information about his assets to Glenn.
In a recently released ruling, Lord Justice Christopher Nugee, who has overseen the “horrendously complex case” since it began in 2016, said Watson had the right to appeal the sentence without his permission, but did not believe “there is a real perspective.” From the Court of Appeal allowing one.
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“I can, of course, turn out wrong.”
Watson had 21 days to appeal the four-month sentence to the Court of Appeal for England and Wales.
The judge said the law states that Watson would only have to serve half of the sentence, to be served at Pentonville Prison, in the far north of central London.
Judge Nugee also said that Watson had tested positive for Covid-19 and Watson’s attorney, Thomas Grant, QC, had noticed recent reports about the impact of Covid-19 on prisons.
Judge Nugee said he would have sentenced Watson to six months in prison or more had it not been for personal mitigating factors, including the impact of Covid-19 on both Watson personally and the prison system.
Other mitigating factors included her relationship with her partner and in relation to her children, as well as the stresses and strains of the process, although a big reason for the time and complexity of everything was attributable to the complexity of Watson’s financial affairs, said the judge.
“But I accept that facing this request in these circumstances has been a very difficult and stressful experience for you that, in itself, has been a form of punishment,” said Judge Nugee.
“I am willing to reduce the sentence from what it would have been otherwise to make it as short as possible.”
SUPPLIED
Sir Owen Glenn says he has three types of cancer and the last decade has been difficult.
Meanwhile, in a statement to StuffGlenn said he had three types of cancer and other diseases like diabetes.
“My last 10-12 years have been difficult,” Glenn said.
He said he and his team had decided to keep a low profile.
“I’ll let good people judge whether he (Watson) was treated fairly.”
In 2018, Judge Christopher Nugee ruled that a £ 129 million (NZ $ 252 million) European real estate investment that Glenn’s company, Kea, signed with Watson, called Project Spartan, had been obtained by deception by Watson.
Judge Nugee ruled that Kea was entitled to compensation of £ 43.5 million from Watson, who was ordered to make an interim payment of more than £ 25 million, plus £ 3.8 million in costs. .
Kea alleged that Watson had committed numerous contempt charges by failing to provide information related to millions of dollars in funds, stocks and other assets held by Watson or related parties.
Judge Nuggee found that Watson violated a number of provisions of a court order, but only one qualified as a “condemnatory violation” that resulted in contempt of court.
The violation related to details of all of Watson’s interests held by his mother, Joan Pollock, that Watson had been ordered to provide but deliberately failed to do when asked.
“I am satisfied that this was a serious, deliberate and stubborn disregard, and designed to conceal from Kea an asset they had a right to know,” Judge Nugee said.
Deliberate violations of court orders were always serious because they tended to undermine the administration of justice, he said.
“As I have said before, the entire system of administration of justice depends on the people that the courts order to do things.”
