Source: Liverpool_Echo
Tom Hicks and George Gillett to bring £1bn damages claim against LFC to English courts
George Gillett and Tom Hicks 300TOM Hicks and George Gillett will bring their claim for £1bn damages against Liverpool FC, its bank and directors through the English courts.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.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.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. 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.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.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.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.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.