Committal for Contempt of Court: Graham Darby

Business and Property CourtsHigh CourtCommittal for Contempt of Court

Claim number: CC-2022-CDF-000010

High Court of Justice
Business and Property Courts in Wales

24 July 2024

Before:

His Honour Judge Keyser K.C. (sitting as a Judge of the High Court)

Order

Pursuant to paragraph 13 of Practice Direction: Committal for Contempt of Court – Open Court dated 26 March 2015

In relation to claim no. CC-2022-CDF-000010, on 24 July 2024, at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre, His Honour Judge Keyser K.C. (sitting as a Judge of the High Court) sentenced Graham Darby to a custodial sentence of 18 months for contempt of court. 

The basis of the sentence was that Andrew Bayley was in contempt of court in the following respects:

  1. In breach of paragraph 13 (1) of the Order dated 2 August 2021 of His Honour Judge Pelling Q.C., sitting as a Judge of the High Court in claim no. LM-2021-000172, (“the Order”) (which required him to the best of his ability within 5 working days of service of the Order to inform the Claimant’s solicitors of all his assets worldwide exceeding £5,000 in value; such information to include a complete inventory of all his cryptocurrency holdings and precisely where they were located) the Defendant by his disclosure letter dated 11 August 2021 failed to mention the existence or location of approximately 100 Bitcoin owned by him, which in early August 2021 had an approximate value of US$4million.
  2. In breach of paragraph 14 of the Order (which required him within 7 working days of service of the Order to provide the Claimant’s solicitors with a witness statement supported by a statement of truth setting out the information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph 13 (1) of the Order) the Defendant provided a witness statement dated 13 August 2021 in purported compliance but which did not provide the information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph 13 (1) of the Order, in that it failed to disclose the existence or location of the 100 Bitcoin.
  3. In his witness statement dated 13 August 2021, verified by a statement of truth, the Defendant knowingly made a false statement, namely that the contents of the disclosure letter dated 11 August 2021 were true and accurate to the best of his knowledge and belief.  That statement was false and the Defendant knew it to be false, because:
    a) The Defendant thereby failed to disclose the existence or location of the 100 Bitcoin, which he knew existed;
    b) The Defendant thereby falsely affirmed that he was unable to access his cryptocurrency holdings because he had forgotten the password on his hard drive.

A sentence of 18 months imprisonment was imposed in respect of the first ground of contempt.

A sentence of 18 months imprisonment was imposed in respect of the second ground of contempt.

A sentence of 6 months imprisonment was imposed in respect of the third ground of contempt.

All the sentences are to run concurrently.