Stobart execs could face contempt trial

STOBART’S chief executive Andrew Tinkler and legal director Trevor Howarth could face a civil trial for contempt after a former employee partially won a case against them yesterday.

Helicopter pilot Peter Elliott was an aviation adviser at WA Developments, Mr Tinkler’s company that owned Stobart from 2003 until its flotation in 2007.

He says he is a whistleblower and over the past six years has made numerous allegations about the conduct of the company and its directors.

This has led to Stobart taking out a series of injunctions against him and in 2009 Mr Elliott was jailed for three months for contempt of court for breaching a gagging order.

He is now seeking to challenge the conviction by claiming Mr Tinkler and Mr Howarth had lied to silence him. At the High Court in Manchester a judge gave permission for proceedings to continue in relation to seven of his 59 allegations. Five of these relate to Mr Tinkler and two to Mr Howarth.

Both men plan to appeal the decision. In a statement they said: “We are confident in the judicial process in which we both expect in the fullness of time to be exonerated.”

In a statement Stobart said: “The allegations made by Elliott are strenuously denied and Andrew and Trevor are completely comfortable with the witness statements they have made.

“On this basis, they will appeal this order and prove their statements were correct. We expect this will lead to Andrew and Trevor being completely exonerated. Whether this will then be the end of the matter with Elliott is an unknown.”