Judge in DVT case steps down
Thu 07 Nov 2002
DVT case halted as judge owns up to BA stake
The High Court case launched by victims of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and their families against 27 airlines including British Airways was adjourned yesterday when the judge admitted he owned BA shares.
Mr Justice Nelson told the court he had read newspaper coverage of BA’s Q2 results on Tuesday lunchtime and ‘it then occurred to me, regrettably for the first time since taking on this case, that I had some shares’ in the airline.
After checking his portfolio later, the judge found he had a holding of 1,450 BA shares, which he sold on Wednesday morning.
He said: ‘For my part, the now former holding of shares in one of 27 carriers is absolutely incapable of affecting my decision one way or the other. But the sensitivity of holding such shares – even a small number – is in my view such that the parties must be given the opportunity to consider whether they wish me to continue.’
The wasted day in court is estimated to have cost more than £100,000 in legal fees and taxpayers’ money. The case will now be heard on 18 November.