Source: Liverpool_Echo
Tom Hicks and George Gillett to bring £1bn damages claim against LFC to English courts
George Gillett and Tom Hicks 300[LNB]TOM Hicks and George Gillett will bring their claim for £1bn damages against Liverpool FC, its bank and directors through the English courts.[LNB]The pair may have lost the power struggle at Anfield, but the will continue to cast a shadow over the pitch for some time yet.[LNB]The former owners - what delight Reds fans will take from that phrase - have declared that they will 'apply all of their legal energies toward securing at least $1.6bn (£1bn) in damages' from the sale of the club that they describe as an 'epic swindle' that will see them walk away with a £145m loss.[LNB]But today a top Liverpool lawyer told the ECHO they have a 'number of sizeable and formidable' obstacles to overcome to successfully sue for damages over the sale of the Reds.[LNB] Paul Lunt, head of commercial litigation at Liverpool-based Brabners Chaffe Street, said the case would rumble on for months and could be likely to be settled out of court.[LNB]Hicks and Gillett were never going to cede control of 'one of the world's most valuable sporting assets' - the phrase they use to describe LFC in the court papers seeking damages - easily.[LNB]In the last days and hours of their ownership their actions got increasingly desperate with an astonishing court action launched in Hicks' home state of Texas.[LNB]After losing in the UK's High Court the pair virtually immediately sought $1.6bn in damages, a restraining order and temporary injunctions stopping the sale of the club in a Dallas court.[LNB]They named chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow, commercial director Ian Ayre who were on the board of Kop Holdings (which owned LFC) as defendants in the 28-page filing. The papers, which use colourful language, make a number of lurid claims including that the directors leaked misinformation to fans' groups.
