Deceit accusation is angrily denied

Mr James Gogarty deceived his employers in getting them to agree to give him 50 per cent commission on money he could negotiate from the ESB, when he had already reached agreement with the ESB on a figure of £700,000, Mr Garrett Cooney SC suggested.

Mr Cooney said Mr Gogarty had given evidence of his agreement to keep one half of all money recouped over the figure of £130,000. But by the time the agreement with the Murphy group was signed in 1989, Mr Gogarty had already secured agreement from the ESB and did not tell his employers. That was deceitful.

Mr Gogarty "misled the company into agreeing to pay him commission of £215,000, which was outrageously large, and to which they would never have agreed if they had known," Mr Cooney said.

Earlier Mr Cooney had gone into the detail of the agreement with Mr Gogarty, saying the words "will negotiate" would suggest the future tense. The fact that Mr Gogarty had already agreed a figure was not known to his employers, Mr Cooney suggested.

He also drew Mr Gogarty's attention to a reference to the company agreeing to pay "commission equivalent to the sum of 50 per cent of the sum received by way of settlement of the claim but only in respect of such sum as is over and above the current offer."

Mr Cooney suggested the use of the words "current offer" proved that the company felt the current offer was £130,000 and had not been told the ESB was willing to pay £700,000.

Mr Cooney said: "That statement in that agreement to which you and Mr Sheedy (Mr Gogarty's solicitor) put your names was untrue to your knowledge and to that of Mr Sheedy at the time."

Mr Gogarty then banged the witness box, exclaiming, "That's a damn lie. Oh Jesus, that's a damn lie. It is insulting me, you are too as well, and I wouldn't take it from you in any court. I am telling you I wouldn't take it from you in any court. It is a damn lie."