Crehan case delayed until next year

The case of Crehan Vs Inntrepreneur is now expected to be heard in the House of Lords early next year.

The case, which was expected to be in the House of Lords in May this year was delayed due to the fact Mr Crehan needed to apply for funding to pay for the case. His legal aid certificate expired at the end of the Court of Appeal proceedings last year.

Mr Crehan has now been granted "exceptional funding" by the Lord Chancellor to defend the Inntrepreneur appeal in the House of Lords.

Now into its second decade, Mr Crehan's case revolves around the terms of the tie imposed by Inntrepreneur in the late 1980s. He claims the unfair terms made it impossible for his two pubs to compete, leading to a collapse of the business and losses of around £1.3m.

In a landmark case the Court of Appeal last May found in favour of Mr Crehan, ruling that his beer tie had been a breach of European competition law. Inntrepreneur is appealing against the decision while Mr Crehan is appealing for further damages.

Rupert Croft, litigation partner at Maitland Walker, which is acting for Mr Crehan and 300 other Inntrepreneur tenants, said: "We're very relieved. The case is so important that we believed it merited a grant from the Lord Chancellor.

"It's taken eight months for our application to be processed which has delayed the hearing date in the House of Lords. We now expect the hearing to be early next year".