The High Court granted Sri Apparel Limited summary judgment for €76,480.52 against Paul Bond, after refusing his application to have the claim sent to a plenary hearing. The court found that Bond had not shown a fair or reasonable probability of a real or bona fide defence on the evidence before it.
Sri Apparel claimed the sum under a settlement agreement signed by the company and Bond on 22 June 2011. The agreement acknowledged a debt and set out instalment payments, but the court said Bond made none of them. The company claimed the full amount became payable following his default.
Bond accepted that he had agreed he owed money to the company and signed the agreement. He argued, however, that later events had superseded it. In affidavits, he said the agreement was connected to a lease liability involving his family company, JP Bond & Co. Ltd., and claimed he signed under pressure after assurances that Sri Apparel would help resolve that company’s exposure to the English landlord.
The company disputed Bond’s account. It said the lease was entered into by JP Bond & Co. Ltd., which was the tenant, and Bond had no personal liability to the landlords. It also said the lease discussions and a separate proposed debt agreement with JP Bond & Co. Ltd. were distinct from Bond’s settlement agreement. That proposed agreement was never signed.
Justice McDermott said the evidence did not support a credible defence linking Bond’s agreement to the company’s lease liabilities. He found that Bond’s affidavits did not disclose the parallel negotiations over JP Bond & Co. Ltd.’s debt and the proposed discussions about reducing that company’s lease liability. The judge described Bond’s reliance on emails as selective and said the evidence lacked candour. He also noted that the allegation of pressure or duress arose only in Bond’s second affidavit and was not supported by correspondence showing a contemporaneous complaint.
The court applied the summary judgment test: leave to defend should be granted unless it is very clear there is no defence, and the defendant need only show an arguable defence, not prove it will probably succeed. On the affidavits and exhibits, the judge concluded Bond had not met that threshold and that Sri Apparel had established its claim. The court therefore entered summary judgment for €76,480.52. The judgment does not state a separate order on interest or costs.