Bankruptcy threatens Crehan beer-tie battle

by Ewan Turney

Bernie Crehan's decade-spanning dispute with Inntrepeneur over the beer tie could be at an end unless £20,000 can be raised to help him avoid bankruptcy.

Last May, the Court of Appeal decided that the Inntrepeneur beer tie, at the Phoenix and Cock Inn at Staines, was illegal and Crehan was awarded £270,000 but Inntrepeneur is appealing the decision at the House of Lords. If Crehan, who has so far not received a penny from the case, goes bankrupt the Lord Chancellor's offer of "exceptional funding" to fight the appeal would be in jeopardy.

Crehan's solicitors Maitland Walker, which is also currently advising a group of Oxfordshire Greene King tenants on thebeer tie, launched the Bernie Crehan fund at the annual dinner of the Norwich & Norfolk Licensed Victuallers Association.

"The situation is urgent," said Rupert Croft of Maitland Walker. "Bernie and Dolores Crehan have been leading the fight against Inntrepeneur since 1993. Their test case has been their life for the past decade. During that time, they have had to make huge personal sacrifices."

Crehan claims he has been "blacklisted" by brewers and pubcos because of his role in the case and has been unemployed since leaving his pubs in 1993.

Nick De'Ath, chairman of the Norwich & Norfolk LVA, added: "All pub tenants and lessees owe a debt of gratitude to the Crehans. We invite licensees around the country to give as generously as they can afford."

Donations, payable to the Bernie Crehan Fund, can be sent to Maitland Walker, Eagle Tower, Montpellier Drive, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 1TA.