THE Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan was condemned by a judge yesterday as a “wholly unsatisfactory” witness whose evidence had contained “blatant inaccuracies”.
The remarks were made by Mr Justice Langley in a judgment that Mr Jordan had tried to keep secret. It came at the end of a six-week battle in the Commercial Court as Jordan Grand Prix Ltd sought £150 million in damages from Vodafone over failed sponsorship talks. Jordan had withdrawn its case at the last minute but failed to persuade the judge not to publish his judgment.
Mr Jordan’s evidence, the judge said, was increasingly contrived and unsustainable. His evidence in the witness box had conflicted even with documents of his own making.
Mr Jordan put a brave face on the judgment, saying that litigation was always risky.
The case hinged on four words — “You’ve got the deal” — which, it was alleged, the Vodafone executive David Haines said to Mr Jordan by phone on March 22, 2001. Jordan claimed that the phrase created a £100 million verbal contract for sponsorship under which Jordan would display the Vodafone brand on its cars. But the judge suggested that the words had never been spoken. “I also think and find that Mr Haines did not even use the words, ‘You’ve got the deal’, at least in the context or sense on which Jordan relies,” he said.
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The assessment could not come at a worse time for Jordan. The team is suffering its worst season, while Mr Jordan’s overdraft is said to be £1 million.
The judge said that Jordan Grand Prix’s case was plainly demonstrated to be without foundation, and false.