Estate got loan to fight legal proceedings over land deal with Magniers
Anna Thomson-Moore told the High Court the stress and impact of the proceedings initiated against them was "enormous".
She said it also 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.
Billionaire Mr Magnier wants the court to enforce a €15m deal he claims he agreed with Richard Thomson-Moore in a hand-shake deal for 751 acres of the land in Co Tipperary on August 22, 2023, at Mr Magnier's Coolmore home.
In her evidence on Friday, Ms Thomson-Moore told barrister Martin Hayden that on September 7, 2023 — two weeks after the claimed handshake deal — Mr Magnier called to Barne Estate with his son, JP, and met with the Thomson-Moores, who told Mr Magnier that 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 a total of €50,000 in cash — €25,000 in each — about which she felt "uncomfortable" and told Mr Stokes this.
Ms Thomson-Moore told Mr Hayden that the money was put in their safe 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 have told the court that the money was a token of "appreciation" to the Thomson-Moores for letting the Magnier side onto the land before any sale was finalised.
The Magnier side were ultimately gazumped by Irish-born, US-based construction magnate Maurice Regan, who offered €22.25m, 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.
Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust.
Mr Magnier claims that the deal had been agreed at the kitchen meeting and that 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 that Mr Magnier was told a number of times prior to the alleged deal that any agreement was subject to the consent of the trustees.
Exclusivity agreement
Both sides entered into an exclusivity agreement from August 31 to September 30, 2023, 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.
However, during September 2023, Ms Thomson-Moore sad Mr Regan had offered around €20m for the estate but the trustees recommended honoring 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 that there was a "flurry" of calls in early October, 2023, during which time Mr Stokes told the Thomson-Moores that 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 in order 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.
The case continues before Mr Justice Max Barrett.
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