Latest news with #AnnaThomsonMoore
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Magnier's Coolmore group branded ‘professional bullies' by rival in bitter Barne Estate row
A woman whose husband is being sued by John Magnier over the purported sale of a prized Co Tipperary estate said she felt €50,000 in cash delivered in two brown envelopes on behalf of the bloodstock billionaire was 'incredibly tainted and dirty', the High Court has heard. Anna Thomson-Moore told the court that on September 7th, 2023 – two weeks after an alleged €15 million handshake allegedly sealed the sale of Barne Estate – Mr Magnier called to Barne with his son, JP, and met the Thomson-Moores. She said they told Mr Magnier they had to work through tax issues and involve the trustees of the estate to complete any deal. Ms Thomson-Moore said that at the end of that conversation their estate agent, John Stokes, who had walked out with the Magniers, returned to the house with two brown envelopes given to him by JP containing €50,000 cash. She said she felt 'incredibly uncomfortable' about the envelopes and had the money returned days later. The Magnier side has told the court the money was a token of 'appreciation' to the Thomson-Moores for letting the Magnier side on to the land before any sale was finalised. READ MORE The Magnier side was ultimately dislodged by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25 million and became the preferred bidder for the estate. Mr Regan is not a party to the case. Mr Magnier wants the court to enforce the deal he claims he sealed with Mr Thomson-Moore in an alleged handshake agreement for the 751 acres on August 22nd, 2023. The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say was 'unequivocally' agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement as they needed the consent of the trustees to finalise any deal. They say they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan. Mr Magnier claims there had been no mention of the sale being subject to trustee approval. At the High Court on Tuesday Ms Thomson-Moore – wife of defendant Richard Thomson-Moore – told Paul Gallagher, senior counsel for the Magniers, that the family was not deliberately 'stalling' on a deal with Mr Magnier because Mr Regan had outbid Mr Magnier. Barne and the Magniers entered into an exclusivity agreement stipulating that the estate would not permit itself or its representatives to solicit or encourage any expression of interest, inquiry or offer on the property from anyone other than Mr Magnier between August 31st and September 30th, 2023. However, during September 2023, Ms Thomson-Moore said, Mr Regan offered about €20 million for the estate. She said the trustees recommended honouring the exclusivity agreement with Mr Magnier, making Ms Thomson-Moore increasingly frustrated with the trustees who refused to consider the new bid. Mr Gallagher asked why the Thomson-Moores did not tell the trustees of the brown envelopes until a month after the incident. An emotional Ms Thomson-Moore said she was 'incredibly uncomfortable' about the money and that it gave her a 'tainted and dirty' feeling. A portion of a text message from Mr Regan to Mr Thomson-Moore was read to the court by Mr Gallagher in which Mr Regan described the Magnier-led Coolmore side as 'professional bullies'. In the text, Mr Regan said the Thomson-Moores had not been through a fair process in dealing with Coolmore which, Mr Regan says, should not be the new owner of Barne Estate and if they were to take ownership that they should 'pay dearly for it'. 'You are dealing with professional bullies,' wrote Mr Regan to Mr Thomson-Moore, adding that the Coolmore side was engaged in 'intimidating' Mr Thomson-Moore. Ms Thomson-Moore said her husband did not reply to the message. The case continues.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Wife of man being sued by John Magnier over Barne estate row says couple ‘steamrolled' into litigation they could not afford
The wife of a man being sued by John Magnier over the purported sale of a coveted Co Tipperary estate to him has told the High Court the bloodstock billionaire allegedly threatened any sale of Barne estate to anyone other than him, as he claims was agreed, would put the defendants in 'litigation for years' and cost 'millions'. Anna Thomson-Moore, the wife of defendant Richard Thomson-Moore, has told the High Court that the family had to take out a commercial loan in order to fight the case taken by Mr Magnier over the collapse of the alleged deal for the land. Mr Magnier wants the court to enforce a €15 million deal he claims he agreed with Mr Thomson-Moore in a handshake deal for 751 acres of the land in Co Tipperary on August 22nd, 2023, at Mr Magnier's Coolmore home. In her evidence on Friday, Ms Thomson-Moore told defence barrister Martin Hayden SC that on September 7th, 2023 – two weeks after the claimed handshake deal – Mr Magnier called to Barne with his son, JP, and met the Thomson-Moores, who told Mr Magnier they had to work through tax issues and involve the trustees of the estate to complete any deal. READ MORE Ms Thomson-Moore said at the end of that conversation their estate agent, John Stokes, who had walked out with the Magniers, returned to the house with two brown envelopes given to him by JP containing a total of €50,000 in cash about which she felt 'uncomfortable' and told Mr Stokes this. Ms Thomson-Moore told Mr Hayden the money was put in their safe at Barne and that the following morning they decided to return the money as Ms Thomson-Moore was now 'very uncomfortable' with the situation. The Magnier side has told the court the money was a token of 'appreciation' to the Thomson-Moores for letting the Magnier side on to the land before any sale was finalised. John Magnier arriving at the High Court in Dublin in May. Photograph: Collins Courts The Magnier side was ultimately gazumped by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25 million and was made the preferred bidder. Mr Regan is not a party to the case. The Magnier side has sued the Barne estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been 'unequivocally' agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of the trustees to finalise any agreement, and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan. The Barne estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust. Mr Magnier claims the deal had been agreed at the kitchen meeting and there had been no mention of it being subject to trustee approval, which he has said to the court on numerous occasions. Ms Thomson-Moore told the High Court on Friday Mr Magnier was told a number of times before the alleged deal that any agreement was subject to the consent of the trustees. Both sides entered into an exclusivity agreement from August 31st to September 30th, 2023, stipulating the estate would not permit itself or its representatives to solicit or encourage any expression of interest, inquiry or offer on the property from anyone other than Mr Magnier. During September 2023, said Ms Thomson-Moore, Mr Regan had offered around €20 million for the estate but the trustees recommended honouring the exclusivity agreement with Mr Magnier. Ms Thomson-Moore said she was 'frustrated' that the trustees were not looking at the higher offer at all. After the expiry of the exclusivity deal, she said there was a 'flurry' of calls in early October 2023, during which time Mr Stokes told the Thomson-Moores Mr Magnier had told the estate agent he would take the matter to court and 'tie this up for years and millions in litigation'. Ms Thomson-Moore said a commercial loan was taken out by the defendants under Barne Estate Ltd to provide liquidity to defend the Magnier action. 'We did not have the means to defend these proceedings without a loan. I think it is important to have access to justice and we were being steamrolled into proceedings because of a lack of cash and it would not be fair. It felt like an onslaught of proceedings that kicked off very quickly,' she told the court. Ms Thomson-Moore, a solicitor, said the stress and impact of the proceedings initiated against them had been 'enormous' and that this had become 'oppressive'. She said it also had delayed the family's plans to move to her native Australia to attend to the health needs of their son, who needs around-the-clock care. The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Family's decision to sell Barne Estate influenced by young son's healthcare needs, High Court told
A woman whose husband is being sued by bloodstock billionaire John Magnier over the purported sale of a Co Tipperary estate broke down in the High Court on Thursday when explaining they had decided to sell the property in order to move to Australia to tend to their son's health needs. Anna Thomson-Moore's husband, Richard, is being sued by Mr Magnier, who claims he had a handshake agreement with the Thomson-Moores to buy Barne Estate for €15 million in August 2023. Ms Thomson-Moore told the High Court on Thursday that her five-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, is in need of 24-hour care, cannot walk or crawl and is non-verbal. She said his care was behind the decision to sell the estate. She told her barrister, Martin Hayden SC, she did not want her son to be 'defined by his disabilities' but that his condition meant the family had chosen to move to Australia where she has a large family that could support him. READ MORE The Barne Estate in Co Tipperary. Photograph: Savills Ms Thomson-Moore became emotional as she described her thoughts as to how Teddy would be cared for should she and her husband, as 'older' parents, die or have anything happen to them. Teddy was a 'delightfully happy and inquisitive child' but he had a number of diagnoses, she said. She said he was not capable of doing things other children of his age would be expected to do. The decision to move to her native Australia was influenced by the fact healthcare services for children in their area of Co Tipperary were under-resourced, difficult to avail of and over-subscribed. Ms Thomson-Moore said there was a national scheme available there with individualised budgets for children with her son's diagnoses, but that the family would have to be in Australia to avail of these. She said Mr Magnier had visited Barne before the purported handshake deal of August 22nd, 2023, and had asked if the family was being put under pressure by a bank to sell. Ms Thomson-Moore, a lawyer, said she told Mr Magnier it was a family decision to sell the estate and that the trustees of the estate were involved. Mr Hayden asked Ms Thomson-Moore if Mr Magnier expressed any surprise upon learning of the involvement of trustees in the estate, to which Ms Thomson-Moore replied 'no'. The Magnier side claims a €15 million deal was struck for Barne Estate, which the Magniers believed they had shook hands on in August 2023. However, a sale was later agreed with the Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25 million. Businessman John Magnier at the High Court. Photograph: Collins Courts The case centres on Mr Magnier's claim that Mr Regan engaged in a 'full-frontal assault' on Mr Magnier's claimed deal to buy the 751-acre tract and that Barne Estate reneged on the deal. Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust. The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been 'unequivocally' agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of trustees to finalise any agreement and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan. Mr Regan is not a party to the case. The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett.
BreakingNews.ie
6 days ago
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Wife of man being sued by John Magnier breaks down saying property sale was to fund son's healthcare
The wife of a man being sued by bloodstock billionaire John Magnier over the purported sale of a Co Tipperary estate broke down in tears in the witness box at the High Court as she told of the decision to sell the estate so that the family could move to Australia because of their child's healthcare. Anna Thomson-Moore's husband, Richard, is being sued by Mr Magner, who claims that he had agreed a handshake deal with the Thomson-Moores for Barne Estate worth €15 million in August 2023. Advertisement Ms Thomson-Moore told the High Court on Thursday that her five-year-old son, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, is in need of 24-hour care, cannot walk or crawl and is non-verbal, and that this was behind the decision to sell the Co Tipperary estate. Ms Thomson-Moore told her barrister, Martin Hayden SC, that she did not want her son to be "defined by his disabilities" but that his condition meant the family had chosen to move to Australia, where Ms Thomson-Moore has a large family that could support her son. Ms Thomson-Moore was emotional when she described her thoughts as to how Teddy would be cared for after she and her husband, as "older" parents, died or should anything happen to them. She said her son was a "delightfully happy and inquisitive" child, but that he had a number of diagnoses, and his conditions meant that he could not feed or wash himself, nor was he toilet trained and required 24-hour care. Advertisement She said her son was not capable of doing things other five-year-olds would be expected to do, and moving to Australia was decided as healthcare services for children in her area in Co Tipperary were under-resourced, difficult to avail of, and over-subscribed. Ms Thomson-Moore said that there was a national scheme available in her homeland with individualised budgets for children with her son's diagnoses, but that the family would have to physically be in Australia to avail of the services there. Ms Thomson-Moore said that Mr Magnier had visited Barne before the purported handshake deal of August 22nd, 2021, and had asked if the family was being put under pressure by a bank to sell. A trained lawyer, Ms Thomson-Moore said she told Mr Magnier that it was a family decision to sell the estate and said this decision involved the trustees of the estate. Advertisement Mr Hayden asked Ms Thomson-Moore if Mr Magnier expressed any surprise upon learning of the involvement of trustees in the estate, to which Ms Thomson-Moore said "no". The Magnier side claims a deal was struck for Barne Estate, which the Magniers believed they had shaken hands on in August 2023 for €15 million. However, the Magnier side were ultimately gazumped by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25M. The case centres on Mr Magnier's claim that Mr Regan engaged in a "full-frontal assault" on Mr Magnier's claimed deal to buy the 751-acre tract and that Barne Estate reneged on the deal. Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust. Ireland Settlement approved for family of man crushed to d... Read More The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been "unequivocally" agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of trustees to finalise any agreement, and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan. Mr Regan is not a party to the case. The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett.
