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Post by QPR Report on Jun 2, 2009 16:28:08 GMT
Yorkshire Evening Post
Ex-United director's threat to have Ken Bates killed, High Court told
Former Leeds United director Melvyn Levi has been "persecuted" after chairman Ken Bates launched a defamatory "campaign" against him, London's High Court heard.
Mr Levi is also expected to tell Mr Justice Gray that he believes some of Mr Bates' comments are anti-Semitic, although the Jewish businessman's lawyers are not making that claim part of the libel battle.
However, Mr Bates vigorously denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight the two-week hearing tooth and nail, with his lawyers counter-alleging that Mr Levi at one point threatened to have him killed.
Opening Mr Levi's case, barrister Simon Myerson QC told Mr Justice Gray that the alleged defamatory comments were made in a number of Leeds United programmes and a letter Mr Bates sent to fans.
They were made in the wake of Mr Bates' takeover of Leeds United Football Club and his subsequent falling out with Mr Levi, who was a director under the previous regime.
Mr Myerson said that Mr Levi had been "seriously injured in his reputation and has suffered embarrassment and upset" by what Mr Bates had said, adding that Mr Bates' conduct had amounted to a "campaign" and Mr Levi felt "persecuted".
The barrister added that Mr Levi's wife had been "frightened witless" after Mr Bates included the couple's address in Leeds in his column for the programme.
On another occasion, the whereabouts of Mr Levi's phone number was also published, and although it had black felt tip pen put through it in an attempt to make it unreadable, Mr Myerson said it was still legible.
Among statements made by Mr Bates which are complained of, Mr Levi has taken issue with two which he says are anti-Semitic.
One referred to him as a "shyster", and the other was entitled "The Enemy Within", which Mr Myerson said was the title of one of the chapters of Hitler's Mein Kampf.
"It isn't part of this claim that Mr Bates is an anti-Semite, it doesn't arise for determination," said the barrister.
But earlier he had said: "Mr Levi will say that he does believe 'shyster' to be anti-Semitic."
In written papers drafted by Mr Levi's legal team, it was said that on October 17, 2006, Mr Bates published an article in the Leeds United programme entitled "Just to bring you up to speed..."
The article followed a disagreement between Mr Bates and Mr Levi, which evolved against the back-drop of complex business dealings surrounding Mr Bates' takeover of the club.
Mr Bates alleges that Mr Levi was wrong to block the sale of a number of shares after an option to buy them was exercised.
In the October 17 article, the papers alleged, Mr Bates had wrongly given the impression that Mr Levi was a "shyster trying to blackmail Leeds United into paying him money to buy him off for not honouring his obligation".
A second article, with the controversial headline "The Enemy Within", was published on March 3, 2007.
The papers alleged that the article wrongly gave the impression that Mr Levi was "trying to blackmail Mr Bates", had engaged in "scurrilous telephone calls and conversations which deterred two would-be serious investors in the club and were criminal", and Mr Levi was "dishonourable" and "his unscrupulous attempts to obtain money had deterred investors".
The following week, an article entitled "Why, Mr Levi, why?" was published in the programme.
It is alleged that the article wrongly gave the impression that "Mr Levi frightened off investors and tried to blackmail the club into paying him money, and excused his actions by accusing Mr Bates of being anti-Semitic".
It was also alleged that the article wrongly suggested that "Mr Levi deterred Alamo Rent a Car from investing in the club", and Mr Levi "closed down Bramley Rugby League Club so as to redevelop the pitch for housing".
In August 2007, Mr Bates published to Leeds Club Members a letter which Mr Levi says wrongly suggested that he had "frustrated efforts to strengthen Leeds United's finances by deterring participants in a rights issue and putting off would-be investors".
Asking Mr Justice Gray to award Mr Levi aggravated damages, lawyers said Mr Bates has "published and continues to publish serious and offensive libels and has denied him an apology or any amends".
The papers added that Mr Bates had published Mr Levi's address, and "it is to be inferred he did so hoping that Mr Levi or his family would be harmed", and had also informed readers where his telephone number was located.
The papers also alleged: "Mr Bates has sought to blame Mr Levi, amongst others, for the misfortunes of Leeds United in the hope of deflecting attention from its financial position and relegation to the First Division of the Football League."
However, Ronald Thwaites QC, for Bates, has put forward a number of lines of defence, and says that Mr Levi is not entitled to a penny in damages.
Mr Thwaites says that Mr Bates was protected by "qualified privilege" as the allegations he made were in the public interest.
The barrister also says that the statements Mr Bates made were "justified" and "fair comment", and expressly denied that he was anti-Semitic or had ever "used language that the Nazis would use".
In written papers composed by Mr Thwaites' junior barrister, Jacob Dean, it was alleged that Mr Levi's behaviour in not agreeing to the sale of the shares could be "fairly described" as "dishonourable, unscrupulous and disgraceful", adding that his demands in the autumn of 2005 "amounted to blackmail".
He added that, during a conversation with a potential Irish investor, on December 13, 2006, Mr Levi tried to deter him from putting money into the club, and then said Mr Bates could be shot.
"Mr Levi made the shocking and deeply disturbing comment that people can get shot over matters like this and that he, Mr Levi, was owed money and he would have no problem going to prison about it," said Mr Dean.
"This scurrilous and disgraceful remark by Mr Levi, reasonably interpreted as a threat on the life of Mr Bates, was reported to the police."
The case continues.
Yorkshire Evening Post
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Post by Zamoraaaah on Jun 2, 2009 18:29:26 GMT
Bates is ,and always will be a scumbag.
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 3, 2009 6:11:13 GMT
And a BBC Report Bates sued over 'shyster' article Mr Bates is pleading his remarks were fair comment A former director of Leeds United FC has claimed club chairman Ken Bates libelled him when he called him a "shyster". Businessman Melvyn Levi, 65, has brought a High Court action over a letter and articles in club programmes. He says he was accused of trying to blackmail the club and of being unscrupulous and dishonourable. Mr Bates, 78, denies libel, pleading fair comment. The case at London's High Court could last up to two weeks. His QC, Simon Myerson, told the judge, Sir Charles Gray, that the case centred on the "fall-out" from Mr Bates's purchase of the club in January 2005. 'Enemy Within' Mr Myerson said that Mr Levi, who lives in Leeds, had been one of the members of a consortium - the Yorkshire Consortium - which bought the club about 10 months before Mr Bates's purchase and had "rescued it from demise". He told the judge: "It is in October of 2006 that Mr Bates starts what we say is a campaign, or at least a course, of defamatory comment." One of the "vehicles" he used, said the QC, was his column in the club's programme. Part of Mr Levi's case is that in an article published in a programme in March 2007, entitled "The Enemy Within", he was accused of blackmail, of being dishonourable and of making unscrupulous attempts to obtain money which had deterred investors in Leeds United. Ronald Thwaites QC, for Mr Bates, told the court that Mr Levi had not come to court to seek the usual vindication, "but to have a quasi public inquiry about his problems with Mr Bates". Mr Bates is pleading the defences of justification, qualified privilege and fair comment. The case is continuing. newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/8080141.stm |
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 3, 2009 16:26:38 GMT
Yorkshire Post Wednesday, 3rd June 2009 United director 'vilified' he tells libel trial Former Leeds United director Melvyn Levi says club chairman Ken Bates has repeatedly "vilified" him in print in a bid to "deflect criticisms" of his own running of the club. Mr Levi, 65, is suing Mr Bates at London's High Court for libel over three articles written by the chairman in the club's match-day programme in 2006 and 2007, and a letter sent to fans in 2007. London's High Court has heard that the articles variously accuse Mr Levi of being a shyster, an "enemy within", attempting to blackmail the club and scaring off potential investors. The dispute arose after Mr Bates, 77, took over the club in 2005 from the Yorkshire Consortium Trust, of which Mr Levi was a member. Mr Bates says that Mr Levi blocked the sale of a number of shares in 2005 when he had no reason for doing so. Mr Levi said he was never acting in a personal capacity – but rather for a company he was involved with called Cope Industrial Holdings - and there was a "genuine" legal dispute over whether or not a call option on the shares had lapsed. Giving evidence, Mr Levi said the articles and letter had caused both him and his family an "enormous amount of distress" and also accused Mr Bates of using anti-Semitic language. And he told Mr Justice Gray that he believed that, far from being true, what Mr Bates had been saying was in fact a smoke screen. Referring to the 2007 letter, Mr Levi said: "All the allegations are false and written, I believe, to give supporters the impression that I was responsible for the misfortunes that have befallen Leeds United over the recent years and to deflect potential criticism away from Mr Bates. "These wholly unjustified written assaults on me have caused myself and my family an enormous amount of distress. They have caused injury to my reputation and have led me to suffer considerable embarrassment and upset." He also alleged that members of the Yorkshire Consortium, and Cope, had lost a "very substantial amount of money due, in no small part, to the actions of Mr Bates". "These articles and Mr Bates' apparent desire to vilify me and turn Leeds United supporters against me has caused me a great deal of embarrassment, upset and stress and continues to do so to this day," he said. Describing his reputation in the business world as "fair and honest", Mr Levi said it has been important for him throughout his life to retain his family's good name. That is because his father, Jack Levi, was a "prominent and highly respected" criminal lawyer in Leeds who had a reputation for "honesty and integrity and a brilliant mind". Although initially he got on well with Mr Bates, said Mr Levi, by August 2005 he had been "banned" from all Leeds matches after it was alleged that he had said at a pre-season friendly that he was going to "make it as hard as I can for Ken Bates" and criticised the club. Then Leeds coach Kevin Blackwell, and then head coach John Carver, said Mr Levi, have both given statements with regard to that matter in support of Mr Bates. But Mr Levi – who has not been to Elland Road since - denies making any such comments. In October 2006, Mr Bates wrote in the programme for a home game against Leicester City that Mr Levi was a "shyster", putting in brackets immediately after the word the comment "no that is not anti-Semitic". But Mr Levi said he did not believe that was the case. "I am a Jewish businessman and, as such, I believe that the allegation that I am a shyster is much more hurtful than if I were not Jewish," he said. "I do not accept Mr Bates' claims that by calling me a shyster he is not being anti-Semitic. "If the word shyster had no anti-Semitic connotations, I wonder why he thought it necessary to even mention it as soon as he used the word." Mr Levi added that Mr Bates had previously referred to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich – who is also Jewish - as a "shyster". "It is interesting, I think, that when attacking both myself and Mr Abramovich, both Jewish, Mr Bates on both occasions chooses to describe us as shysters," he said. "That does seem to be more than a coincidence." Earlier, Simon Myerson QC, for Mr Levi, told the court: "It isn't part of this claim that Mr Bates' is an anti-Semite, it doesn't arise for determination," said the barrister. But he also said: "Mr Levi will say that he does believe 'shyster' to be anti-Semitic." In March 2007, Mr Bates claimed in an article that Mr Levi had tried to blackmail the club over the share dispute, an allegation Mr Levi said was "very offensive". That same article also published Mr Levi's home address, which he said caused his wife Carole and his son "enormous distress" and left the whole family suffering sleepless nights. "I had to involve the police who for about three months had to provide added security to my home," he said. "This included fitting a special response alarm system; fitting extra locks to doors and windows; supplying us with personal radio activated alarms to wear around our necks; advised not to leave the house; and keeping the gates shut at all times." For a month after the article was written, police also kept watch over Mr Levi's home, he said. On another occasion Mr Bates wrote in the programme that Mr Levi's phone number was "in the book", blacking out the comment with felt tip after Mr Levi went to court to seek an injunction against publication. However, alleged Mr Levi, the comment was still legible, and as a result he received offensive phone calls, leaving his wife anxious every time the phone rang that it "might be someone ringing to abuse us". In a second article written in March 2007, Mr Bates said that Mr Levi had been involved in "closing down" Bramley Rugby League Club, whose ground had been sold for housing. He also accused him of trying to frighten off investors. Mr Levi said both of those allegations were untrue, and by the time Bramley moved grounds – it is still operating as Bramley Buffaloes – he was no longer involved with the club. In his defence, Mr Bates' lawyers allege that, during a conversation with the head of an Irish investment consortium, Mr Levi implied that Mr Bates might be shot, an alleged threat that was reported to the police. It is also alleged that Mr Levi revealed that Mr Bates was in dispute with Mr Abramovich, and said the Russian billionaire was "going to ruin Mr Bates' credibility with the banks". Mr Levi said such a suggestion was "utter nonsense" and he "knew absolutely nothing" about Mr Bates' business dealings with Mr Abramovich, adding that he would not have made any comment about people getting shot. Barrister Ronald Thwaites QC, for Mr Bates, has also accused Mr Levi of being dishonest in bringing his libel claim, something which the businessman denies. "I do not accept that I am a shyster, a blackmailer nor dishonourable, dishonest or a disgrace," said Mr Levi. "The articles to which these proceedings relate have caused me a great deal of embarrassment, upset and distress." The case, due to last two weeks, continues. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leeds-United-director-39vilified39-he.5329994.jp |
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Post by cpr on Jun 3, 2009 16:29:11 GMT
It would be easier to produce a list of people who have not threatened to have master bates killed.
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 5, 2009 13:02:59 GMT
Jewish Chronicle Soccer bosses in court over ‘shyster’ claim Former Leeds United director Melvyn Levi said this week that club chairman Ken Bates had repeatedly “vilified” him in print in a bid to “deflect criticisms” of his own running of the club. Mr Levi, 65, is suing Mr Bates at London’s High Court for libel over three articles written by the chairman in the club’s match-day programme in 2006 and 2007, and a letter sent to fans in 2007. The court heard that the articles variously accused Mr Levi of being a shyster, an “enemy within”, attempting to blackmail the club and scaring off potential investors. Ken Bates denies all the charges made by Mr Levi. The dispute arose after Mr Bates, 77, took over the club in 2005 from the Yorkshire Consortium Trust, of which Mr Levi was a member. Mr Bates says that Mr Levi blocked the sale of a number of shares in 2005 when he had no reason for doing so. Mr Levi says he was never acting in a personal capacity — but rather for a company he was involved with called Cope Industrial Holdings — and that there was a “genuine” legal dispute over whether or not a call option on the shares had lapsed. Mr Levi said the articles and letter had caused him and his family “enormous distress” and also accused Mr Bates of using antisemitic language. He told Mr Justice Gray: “These wholly unjustified written assaults on me have caused injury to my reputation and have led me to suffer considerable embarrassment and upset.” Describing his reputation in the business world as “fair and honest”, Mr Levi said it had been important for him to retain his family’s good name. His father, Jack Levi, was a “prominent and highly respected” criminal lawyer in Leeds, who had a reputation for “honesty and integrity and a brilliant mind”. Although initially he got on well with Mr Bates, said Mr Levi, by August 2005 he had been “banned” from all Leeds matches after it was alleged that he had said at a pre-season friendly that he was going to “make it as hard as I can for Ken Bates” and criticised the club. In October 2006, Mr Bates wrote in the programme for a game against Leicester City that Mr Levi was a “shyster”, putting in brackets “no, that is not antisemitic”. But Mr Levi said: “I am a Jewish businessman and, as such, I believe that the allegation that I am a shyster is much more hurtful than if I were not Jewish. I do not accept Mr Bates’s claims that by calling me a shyster he is not being antisemitic. “If the word shyster had no antisemitic connotations, I wonder why he thought it necessary to even mention it as soon as he used the word.” Mr Levi added that Mr Bates had previously referred to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich as a “shyster”. “It is interesting, I think, that when attacking both myself and Mr Abramovich, both Jewish, Mr Bates on both occasions chooses to describe us as shysters,” he said. “That does seem to be more than a coincidence.” Ronald Thwaites QC, for Mr Bates, has accused Mr Levi of being dishonest in bringing his libel claim, something which the businessman denies. “I do not accept that I am a shyster, a blackmailer nor dishonourable, dishonest or a disgrace,” said Mr Levi. But Mr Thwaites said that Mr Levi was not entitled to a penny in damages. He said Mr Bates was protected by “qualified privilege” as the allegations he made were in the public interest. He added that the statements Mr Bates made were “justified” and “fair comment”, and denied that he was antisemitic or had ever “used language that the Nazis would use”. The case continues. www.thejc.com/articles/soccer-bosses-court-over-shyster%E2%80%99-claim |
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 8, 2009 16:05:00 GMT
Continuing....Yorkshire Evening Post
Businessman's scathing High Court attack on Ken Bates
: 08 June 2009Melvyn Levi's business partner has launched a scathing attack on Ken Bates at London's High Court - and criticised him for publicising a run-in he had with police 30 years ago. Mr Levi, 65, is suing Mr Bates, 77, for libel damages over three articles written by the chairman in the club's match-day programme in 2006 and 2007, and a letter sent to fans in 2007. The articles variously accused Mr Levi of being a shyster, an "enemy within", attempting to blackmail the club and scaring off potential investors. The dispute arose after Mr Bates took over the club in 2005 from the Yorkshire Consortium Trust, of which Mr Levi was a member. Mr Bates, who denies libel and is fighting the case every inch of the way, says that Mr Levi blocked the sale of the remaining shares in the club in 2005 when he had no reason for doing so. Mr Levi says he was never acting in a personal capacity – but rather for a company he was involved with called Cope Industrial Holdings - and there was a "genuine" legal dispute over whether or not a "call option" on the shares had lapsed. Today Mr Levi's business partner, Jersey-based businessman Robert Weston, gave evidence at the High Court. He owns a 75 per cent stake in Cope, to Mr Levi's 25 per cent, and was involved in the Yorkshire Consortium's take-over of the club in 2004. As a result of his association with Mr Levi, Mr Weston was also drawn into the row with Mr Bates, but he told top judge, Sir Charles Gray, that he would "resent and utterly refute" any suggestion that he or Mr Levi had ever tried to "blackmail" the club. Mr Weston said that, in his experience of dealings with Mr Bates over the last four years, "this sort of prejudicial allegation is typical of the antagonistic, emotive and aggressive response I have seen from him when negotiations are not to his liking." The 66-year-old, from St Helier, also said he felt "obliged" to mention an issue which he claimed was raised "deliberately, publicly and quite unnecessarily by Mr Bates in an attempt to influence my dealings with him". Mr Weston said that, in 1978, he was "convicted of an offence" after he ended a relationship with a live-in partner and replaced her in his life with a younger woman who became his wife. He said the conviction had "no bearing" on his commercial "honesty or integrity" and was the only time he had ever been in trouble with the law. "Since it occurred it has never been taken into consideration by anyone in any area of my personal or business life," said Mr Weston. But he told the court: "Mr Bates, however, has referred to the matter publicly on at least three occasions in the last three years, by publishing selective and imprecise details in his personal column in the club's football programme and in one or more letters to the club's members. "I believe this was a blatant attempt to put undue and unethical pressure on me in the hope of persuading me to capitulate to his wishes." Mr Weston said in his written statement that he is currently involved in a legal dispute with Mr Bates in Jersey, and told the judge that, as a result of that action, he had found that Mr Bates had a "general and consistent lack of transparency" in his business dealings. Mr Bates, in relation to the Jersey dispute, "has shuffled companies and company names around with the result that material confusion has been generated", alleged Mr Weston. Turning to the dispute about the "call option", Mr Weston said that Cope had invested £1,439,734 in Leeds United and was receiving interest payments on that sum quarterly. However, he said, both he and Mr Levi became concerned by September 2005 that the loan was "in jeopardy" because "security" on it had not been perfected even though the club had an "obligation" to provide it. It was at that stage that Mr Weston and Mr Levi entered into talks with Mr Bates, putting forward a number of compromise solutions. Mr Bates then alleged that the club was being "blackmailed". At the end of September, a shares rights issue took place which diluted the importance of the "call option", and the club defaulted on interest payments to Cope, the court has heard. "I am completely satisfied that the rights issue and subsequent events were a contrivance, devised by Ken Bates (and his in-house lawyer), to avoid paying the quarterly interest due on the loan notes up to maturity and to avoid the repayment of the value of those notes when repayment eventually fell due," alleged Mr Weston. "Mr Bates will no doubt say that I and/or Mr Levi were deliberately trying somehow to prevent him from achieving his aim to wholly own and control the club and to run it profitably for the foreseeable future. "Any such view was, and remains, a patent nonsense, as both Mr Levi and I would prefer, and would always have preferred, the Club to be successful under Mr Bates' control and, thus, for all parties involved to have received a reasonable return for their investment plus enjoying the satisfaction of having made a meaningful contribution towards saving an historic British football club. "Any other attitude on our part would simply have been counter-productive to our own interests." Mr Levi, who was banned from Leeds games in 2005 by Mr Bates, has previously said that by calling him a "shyster" Mr Bates was using anti-Semitic language, although he does not accuse him of being anti-Semetic. The case, due to last two weeks, continues, with Mr Bates expected to take the stand on Tuesday or Wednesday. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leedsunited/Businessman39s-scathing-High-Court-attack.5344725.jp
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 12, 2009 6:25:37 GMT
The Guardian - David Conn - June 12, 2009
Ken Bates tells court: I was right to call former Leeds director a shyster• Defamation case launched by former Leeds director Melvyn Levi
• Judge quizzes Bates over £19m debt write-off by offshore fundThe Leeds United chairman, Ken Bates, today in the high court stood by his claims that he was justified in describing a former Leeds director, Melvyn Levi, as "the enemy within" and a "shyster" trying to "blackmail" the club. Bates was giving evidence in a libel case brought against him by Levi, who claims that those descriptions, written by Bates in his chairman's match-day programme notes in October 2006 and March 2007, were defamatory. Questioned by Simon Myerson QC, Levi's barrister, Bates maintained he was justified in writing about Levi in those terms and to print his address in the programme, because Levi had not signed an agreement to transfer his shares in Leeds to Forward Sports Fund, owners of Leeds. He also claimed Levi had tried to put off potential investors. Levi has argued that he did not have to sign the agreement to transfer his shares to Forward because Bates' lawyers missed the deadline for forwarding the documents to him and he became worried about the money owed to him by Leeds. Bates told the court he had not been in a position to put his own money into Leeds since becoming chairman in January 2005. The initial £4.4m to buy the club was injected by Forward Sports Fund, he said, an investment trust run from Geneva. "I had already made it clear that I did not have the cash funds available," he said. "But I was giving my time to Leeds unpaid." Bates said he did not know who Forward's investors were, or whether it had been set up by another offshore company, Astor Investment Holdings. He explained that the funding for Leeds had been arranged by Patrick Murrin, the former Chelsea director and Guernsey accountant with whom he had worked for 30 years. "I have no idea," Bates said. "I wasn't bothered about the details, I was only concerned with getting the deal done." Bates and his solicitor, Mark Taylor, were pressed in the witness box about what happened after Leeds went into administration in May 2005. Then Astor, an offshore investment fund which was stated by the administrators, KPMG, to have no connection with Bates, agreed to write off £19m it was owed by Leeds, as long as Bates, representing Forward, remained in control. The judge, Sir Charles Gray, asked Bates: "All right, you don't know why they kissed goodbye to £19m, but can you conceive of a reason why that might be, because at the moment I am exceedingly puzzled." Bates said he did not know why, but he surmised Astor's investors believed that if Forward remained in control of Leeds, they might have the opportunity of doing "business in the future" with the club. Claiming that Levi had described him around Leeds as anti-semitic, Bates denied he was and stood by his assertion that Levi was "playing the race card" by alleging it. "That is a problem," Bates said. "If people from ethnic minorities have problems, rather than accept they are wrong, can't do their job or are incompetent, 'It's because of where I'm from'. It's the last excuse of the failing. The vast majority of people, there is no problem, but there are some ... when somebody is not doing their job, and when they lose it, unfortunately the race relations industry says is it because of who you are, and they say yes." Questioned by his own barrister, Ronald Thwaites QC, Bates denied being racist and pointed to his record of battling against the abuse of black players at Chelsea, which had been "a very racist club" when he took it over in 1982. The trial continues. www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/11/leeds-united-ken-bates-libel-case
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 12, 2009 6:53:18 GMT
Yorkshire Post
Ken Bates on the witness stand: 'I'm no anti-Semite'
Date: 11 June 2009 LEEDS United chairman Ken Bates today denied in court he was anti-Semitic, after being accused of "echoing the Nazis" when he called a business rival a "shyster". Mr Bates, 77, is being sued for libel by businessman Melvyn Levi over three articles written by the chairman in the club's match-day programme in 2006 and 2007, and a letter sent to fans in 2007. The articles variously accused Mr Levi, 65, of being a shyster, an "enemy within", attempting to blackmail the club and scaring off potential investors. As a result of being called a "shyster", Mr Levi accused Mr Bates of using anti-Semitic language, and said he had echoed language used by the Nazis. It is, however, no part of Mr Levi's claim that Mr Bates is anti-Semitic. At London's High Court today, Mr Bates insisted he was no anti-Semite, had worked with many Jewish people - including a business partner - visited Jerusalem for a Bar Mitzvah at the Wailing Wall, employed Jewish people and had made a donation of £5,000 to an Israeli Emergency Appeal during the Six Day War. Arguing that "shyster" is not an anti-Semitic word, Mr Bates said: "I find it deeply offensive that Mr Levi has refused to accept that fact in this claim, but has put forward no factual basis on which he could purport to believe that I am anti-Semitic or would use the language of the Nazis." Mr Bates claims that Mr Levi "imperilled" the financial future of Leeds United despite being under a "moral" obligation to complete the sale of the club to a consortium led by him. The dispute arose after Mr Bates - who is fighting the claim tooth and nail - took over the club in early 2005 from the Yorkshire Consortium Trust, of which Mr Levi was a member. Leeds' chairman both now and then, Mr Bates says that Mr Levi blocked the sale of the remaining shares in the club in September 2005 when he had no reason for doing so. Mr Levi says he was never acting in a personal capacity – but rather for a company he was involved with called Cope Industrial Holdings - and there was a "genuine" legal dispute over whether or not a "call option" on the shares had lapsed. As a result of Mr Levi's stance, further shares were issued in Leeds United, diluting the importance of the "call option" and leaving Mr Levi with, in Mr Bates' own words, a "self-induced bloody nose". Of the allegedly libellous articles, Mr Bates - who entered the witness box today on the hearing's eighth day - said he was surprised when he received a letter from Mr Levi's lawyers in 2007 because he believed his accusations were true. "I believed then, and believe now, that what I said about his behaviour was true," said Mr Bates. "I believed that I did not owe him an apology and nor should I pay him the substantial compensation that he claimed." In September 2005, said Mr Bates, he was "anxious to resolve the dispute" with Mr Levi but "strongly believed he (Mr Levi) was in the wrong and I was not prepared to allow him to use the difficulties caused by his conduct as a bargaining tool". Mr Bates said that Mr Levi was "obliged morally and contractually" to sanction the "call option" and his refusal to do so was "dishonourable, unscrupulous and disgraceful". Accusing both Mr Levi and his business partner, Robert Weston, of trying to "blackmail" the club, Mr Bates said that he found the demands "extortionate and wholly unwarranted". Of Mr Levi himself he alleged: "He sought to exploit Leeds United and extract from it very considerable personal and other benefits to which he had no entitlement whatsoever in return for...completing the option." Later he added: "In my view, Mr Levi's actions were directly contrary to the best interest of the club and imperilled its financial future. In these circumstances, Mr Levi's behaviour was, in my view, dishonourable, unscrupulous and disgraceful and amounted to blackmail of the club and myself." In August 2005, Mr Bates said he asked Leeds' chief executive, Shaun Harvey, to ban Mr Levi from all Leeds games after Mr Levi allegedly criticised Mr Bates at a number of matches. "I was simply not prepared to accept this behaviour from a man who was meant to represent the club," said Mr Bates. The court has heard that, during a conversation with Leeds United investor, George Canning, Mr Levi allegedly said Mr Bates owed him money "and that people can get shot over matters like this". Mr Bates said today that this appeared to him to be an "implied threat on my life". The club chairman added that a wealthy local businessman and Leeds United supporter, Steve Parkin, had said in January 2007 that he had overheard Mr Levi making similar threats against Mr Bates at a restaurant called the Flying Pizza. The case, due to conclude next week with written submissions from both sides' legal teams, continues. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Ken-Bates-on-the-witness.5358941.jpYorkshire Post/Chris Bond - Leeds Utd 'held to ransom' by businessman - claim as Ken Bates sued for libelA BUSINESSMAN who is suing Ken Bates tried to "hold Leeds United to ransom" and destabilise the club, the High Court in London was told yesterday. Melvyn Levi, 65, is suing Ken Bates, 77, for libel damages over three articles written by the chairman in Leeds United's match-day programmes during 2006 and the following year, as well as the content of a letter sent to fans in 2007. The articlesADVERTISEMENTvariously accused Mr Levi of being a shyster, an "enemy within", attempting to blackmail the club and scaring off potential investors. The dispute arose after Mr Bates took over the club from the Yorkshire Consortium Trust, of which Mr Levi was a member, in 2005. Mr Bates, who denies libel and is due on the witness stand today, says that Mr Levi blocked the sale of the remaining shares in the club in 2005 without reason. Mr Levi says he was acting for a company he was involved with called Cope Industrial Holdings and that there was a "genuine" legal dispute over whether or not a "call option" on the shares had lapsed. Yesterday, Mr Bates's in-house lawyer, Richard Taylor, told Judge Sir Charles Gray that Mr Levi's stance in September 2005, when he argued that the "call option" was unenforceable, was "appalling". Describing the completion of the "call option", due to be done by the end of May 2005, as "simply a formality", Mr Taylor said that any attempt to gain a commercial advantage from it was "entirely contrary to the spirit of what was agreed with the Yorkshire Consortium." He said that, in January 2005, the "real" commercial deal had been done which had saved the club. Mr Taylor insisted that had the "call option" not been effectively agreed at that time, Leeds United could have gone under and, at best, would have entered administration. He said that on September 6, 2005, he had a conversation with Mr Levi and, as a result of it, believed he was "extremely close to reaching a settlement". But just a few days later he spoke to Mr Levi's business partner, Robert Weston. Mr Taylor said that he was given the impression during a "thoroughly unpleasant" telephone call that Mr Weston was acting with the authority of Mr Levi, although that has been denied. "It was clear to me that Mr Weston was seeking to blackmail the club into making these concessions to him and Mr Levi," said Mr Taylor. "They believed they had the club over a barrel." The lawyer added that Mr Weston and Mr Levi's behaviour was made "all the worse" by the fact Mr Bates had given the Consortium £2m in January 2005 as a "reward" for keeping the club going. "In spite of this the club was now being held to ransom," he said. The club's chief executive, Shaun Harvey, gave evidence, and said that he believed Mr Levi had destabilised the club by criticising Mr Bates at a number of Leeds United games. "His protests were an embarrassment to everybody at the football club," said Mr Harvey of Mr Levi's behaviour at an away game against Watford in April 2005. In August 2005, at a friendly against Harrogate, Kevin Blackwell, who was then Leeds United manager, alleged that Mr Levi had criticised Mr Bates and told him that he was going to take over the club again. As a result, Mr Levi was banned from Elland Road and has not attended a match since. Barrister Simon Myerson QC, for Mr Levi, claimed that Mr Levi was entitled to tickets for Leeds games, and as a result of Mr Harvey "conniving" with Mr Bates, the club had breached its contractual obligations. Mr Harvey denied that he had "connived" with Mr Bates. The hearing continues. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Leeds-Utd-39held-to-ransom39.5356929.jp
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Post by QPR Report on Jun 22, 2009 18:20:45 GMT
Yorkshire Evening Post
Leeds United chief Bates "invented evidence" for libel case, court told
Date: 18 June 2009 Ken Bates and his witnesses were "prepared to invent evidence" in a bid to strengthen their libel defence against former Leeds United director Melvyn Levi, London's High Court heard. Mr Levi, 65, is suing Mr Bates, 77, for libel damages over three articles written by the chairman in the club's match-day programme in 2006 and 2007, and a letter sent to fans in 2007. The articles variously accused Mr Levi - whose address was also printed in one of the programmes - of being a shyster, an "enemy within", attempting to blackmail the club and scaring off potential investors. The dispute arose after Mr Bates - who is fighting the claim tooth and nail - took over the club in early 2005 from the Yorkshire Consortium Trust, of which Mr Levi was a member. Leeds's chairman both now and then, Mr Bates says that Mr Levi blocked the sale of the remaining shares in the club in September 2005 when he had no reason for doing so. Mr Levi says he was never acting in a personal capacity – but rather for a company he was involved with called Cope Industrial Holdings - and there was a "genuine" legal dispute over whether or not a "call option" on the shares had lapsed. As a result of Mr Levi's stance, further shares were issued in Leeds United, diluting the importance of the "call option" and leaving Mr Levi with, in Mr Bates's own words, a "self-induced bloody nose". Today, during final submissions in the case, Mr Levi's barrister, Simon Myerson QC, told the judge, Sir Charles Gray, that while Mr Levi's witnesses were "worthy of belief", Mr Bates and his witnesses "are not". He said much of Mr Bates's defence relied on accounts of oral conversations of which there are no notes, and he had tried to explain away the lack of documentation by a string of "excuses". "The conclusion to which the court is invited is that Mr Bates and his witnesses were prepared to invent evidence to deal with a problem which they did not perceive until after the case began," said Mr Myerson, using the September 2005 share issue as an example. "Mr Bates and his witnesses were incapable of belief", alleged Mr Myerson, who said evidence they allegedly "invented" went to the "heart of their case" and was "withheld until the evidence was being given". Calling on Sir Charles to award Mr Levi substantial libel damages, Mr Myerson said Mr Levi had "made it clear" during his evidence to the court that he was "upset and aggrieved" by the allegations that Mr Bates had made and was "entitled to vindication". "Mr Bates's conduct and his conduct of the case justify an award of aggravated damages towards the top of the bracket," said Mr Myerson. "The use of the programme to pressure Mr Levi, the attribution to him of the failure of the rights issue, the publication of his name and address and the use of Mr Levi as a scapegoat are all matters which should sound in damages." He added: "Mr Bates has not proved the truth of any of his factual allegations. He has not only failed to prove the facts he relies upon, he has consistently stated them in a way which was untrue as at the time of publication." Later, Mr Myerson added: "No objective writer could have written what Mr Bates wrote." Mr Levi had described Mr Bates's allegations that he was a "shyster" as anti-Semitic, but Mr Myerson has always said it isn't part of his case that Mr Bates is an anti-Semite. However, he described Mr Bates's language as "unpleasant", and also criticised him for claiming in the witness box that ethnic minorities "share a common characteristic" of playing "the race card". "It was disturbing and suggestive of a mind set which discriminates between minorities and others," said Mr Myerson. "It also supports Mr Levi's position that Mr Bates is not careful in his use of language". But Ronald Thwaites QC, for Mr Bates, urged Sir Charles to find that the articles complained of were not defamatory. He argued that they were either in the public interest or factually correct, and there was "ample evidence that the sting of the words complained of is true, as explored in depth at trial". "Mr Levi, jointly with (business partner) Robert Weston, sought to apply pressure which was improper," claimed Mr Thwaites. "Through such pressure, he sought to obtain benefits which were unwarranted morally, contractually and on any objective analysis of the rights and obligations of him and the club. "Such conduct was accurately described by Mr Bates as blackmail, in the common use of that word. It was also dishonourable, disgraceful and unscrupulous". Mr Thwaites alleged that Mr Levi had also acted "dishonourably" in the libel action, submitting "false statements of case" which indicated "awareness of unconsciable conduct". Allegations that Mr Bates had issued new shares to deliberately dilute the importance of the call option had been "comprehensively refuted on the evidence", while it had been "all but admitted" that Mr Levi had made allegations of anti-Semitism against Mr Bates "with no proper basis". And far from Mr Bates and his witnesses not telling the truth, said Mr Thwaites, it was actually Mr Levi whose evidence was "extremely unsatisfactory" and he appeared to be "willing to give evidence in adamant and certain terms which was simply untrue". After hearing closing submissions in the case, Sir Charles has indicated that he will reserve his decision until an unspecified later date. The full article contains 936 words and appears in n/a newspaper. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leeds-United-chief-Bates-34invented.5381130.jp
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