The ousted executive directors of Mission Capital, father and daughter Neil and Emma Sinclair, have failed in their bid to be reinstated to the board pending a full trial of the dispute over the future control of
This morning, Mr Justice Floyd held that “the balance of justice” weighed against the Sinclairs’ reinstatement pending trial.
Last week, the Sinclairs claimed they had been victims of a “sudden and brutal coup” at the AIM-quoted property company.
In documents presented to the judge, they claimed that they had been wrongly accused of a catalogue of failures in the running of the company.
They claim that their non-executive directors terminated their contracts on 5 February because they had allegedly failed to provide financial information and management accounts and to achieve forecasts.
The Sinclairs have disputed the claims and in turn accused non-executive director Robert Burrow of a conflict of interest given his position as a director of Chelsfield Partners, whose joint venture with
Accordingly, they submitted that they should be reinstated to protect the interests of the company from the remaining directors.
Dismissing their application, Floyd J held that “to restore the Sinclairs to a position on the board with board members with whom they are locked in litigation would be a recipe for strife.”
Following judgment a spokeswoman for the Sinclairs said: “The judge joined the other non-executive directors to the claim as we requested, has not ordered costs against us, and has passed no comment as to the rights and wrongs of the case. We are pleased with the progress we are making in the litigation.”
A trial of the main action may not take place until the autumn.
