Thread by @dhayes_news

The final day of the first week of the Sheffield United ownership trial at the High Court will start at 10.30, with Kevin McCabe due to finish giving his evidence. I’ll be here all day tweeting updates of everything that happens #sufc #twitterblades

We’re still in discussions at the Star about who will be covering the rest of the trial. We’ll definitely have someone here next week though to hear Prince Abdullah give his evidence and I would imagine I’ll be back at some point #sufc #twitterblades

Also, I’ve noticed some discussion on Twitter based on a Sky News article saying the Bin Laden family loan never actually happened. That’s certainly not my understanding of what was said and neither of the parties’ legal teams have asked me to clarify #sufc #twitterblades

Kevin McCabe is in the witness box for the fourth day in a row, Prince Abdullah has just arrived and we’re almost ready to get underway #sufc #twitterblades

Paul Downes QC for McCabe begins by asking his client about the £3m loan again. McCabe again says Prince Abdullah had told him that the loan would never have to be repaid #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe said he was given the impression that the £3m has come from multiple investors rather than just one. He says he understood that Saudi sports marketing Sela Sports would be one of the investors #sufc #twitterblades

Downes now asking about the money coming from the Bin Laden family. He says he is 100% sure that Prince Abdullah said it would not have to be repaid and that he was 90% sure Sela Sports were involved in the deal #sufc #twitterblades

He says he was also 100% sure that the Bin Laden family were also involved in the deal #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe says he thought Prince Abdullah’s high position in Saudi Arabia might allow him to ‘cut corners’ when it came to repaying the deal but said he never encouraged him to do anything improper #sufc #twitterblades

Now being asked about his actions when it came to Stephen Bettis. McCabe says he and Prince Abdullah agreed that Bettis would leave at the end of the season but it should be kept quiet as the move could ‘rock the boat’ #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe says that Prince Abdullah didn’t raise any dispute about the suggestion that Bettis should leave in October instead so he could stay for the transfer window and allow time to find a replacement #sufc #twitterblades

However, by October, McCabe says UTB seemed to have changed their minds and now wanted him to stay. Presumes that Prince Abdullah or Mr Giansiracusa had been trying to persuade him to remain in his role #sufc #twitterblades

Downes refers to documents that show Giansiracusa wanted Bettis to stay for the whole of the 17-18 season. McCabe says it shows what was going on in the background was different from his conversations with Giansiracusa and Bettis #sufc #twitterblades

Now taking about a SUL shareholders meeting at which it is alleged that someone said the £3m loan was a bribe. McCabe says he says it wasn’t a word he would use and that he doesn’t remember anyone else saying it #sufc #twitterblades

Now taking about Gledhill’s allegation yesterday that McCabe’s lied when giving evidence about Simon Radcliffe’s appointment as CFO. McCabe says he checked his diary overnight to refresh his memory about the episode #sufc #twitterblades

To recap the issue is about who the new CFO should report to. Gledhill yesterday said that McCabe had intervened to make sure he would report to Andy Birks. McCabe says the reporting arrangements were just common sense #sufc #twitterblades

Now taking about the appointment of Jan Van Winckel to the technical committee. Says Jan’s behaviour didn’t go down well with the team manager who worried that he might want to change things #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe says Chris Wilder is a top manager who wanted to do things his own way and had brought success to the club. ‘He is not the guy you would want to upset’ #sufc #twitterblades

Now taking about the deterioration of his relationship with Prince Abdullah. Says the issues raised by Giansiracusa were non-stop. McCabe: ‘They would criticise everything - even ladies football - it was as if it was planned’ #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe: ‘For them to suggest we would walk away from our obligations to the club means they don’t understand the commitment of the McCabe family to SUFC’. Says he found Giansiracusa’s emails offensive and inappropriate #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe says Giansiracusa also swore at a club secretary who had been at the club for 25 years over a row about the chairs that they had been allocated in the boardroom on a recent matchday #sufc #twitterblades

Downes has now finished his questioning of McCabe. The judge asks him about his state of mind when the deal with Prince Abdullah was signed in 2013. McCabe says he was elated to have found an investor who could help the club achieve success #sufc #twitterblades

McCabe says both parties went in to the relationship optimistically but acknowledges that they failed to understand each other’s culture and that is where they have fallen down #sufc #twitterblades

Judge then asks how what McCabe’s expectation was about how money would be found after the first two years. McCabe says he hadn’t got that far ahead. Says he wanted to get out of L1 straight away and hoped that momentum could take them to the Premier League #sufc #twitterblades

Kevin McCabe has now finished giving evidence after almost three days on the witness stand. Next up is Jeremy Tutton, CFO of the Scarborough group #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton agrees his witness statement before Andreas Gledhill QC for Prince Abdullah begins his cross-examination of the new witness. He is asked whether he believes that the £3m loan was a bribe. He says he does #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill says to Tutton that the suggestion that a man called Dr Raqqan was behind the loan not anyone else (the Bin Laden’s) is central to submissions made to the judge that the loan was a bribe #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill asks Tutton why has his evidence about the dates that the loan was discussed with others has changed. Tutton says it is just his ‘sloppiness’ #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill: ‘The reason why your evidence changed is that someone realised the person you say you spoke to about the loan was out of the office in the week’ #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton denies lying but says he was ‘sloppy’ with the dates. He says he was trying to find out about the £3m loan and whether it might have contained laundered money when he was told that Dr Raqqan was behind it not the Bin Laden family #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton: ‘I Googled Farrah’s (law firm) and spoke to a female voice who told me Dr Raqqan was behind the loan’. Gledhill: ‘That would be in breach of their client’s confidentiality. Your evidence on this is simply incredible’ #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill puts it to Tutton that he is deliberately lying. Tutton says no he has not lied he has ‘just got excited’ #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill asks when Tutton first found out the money might have come from the Bin Laden family. Tutton says his suggestion in an email that they didn’t want the headline in the Star to link them with extremists was just banter #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton angrily denies that he knew the money may have come from he Bin Laden family. Says if he had known that he would have been referring to it as ‘the Bin Laden loan’ in all his correspondence which he did not #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton: ‘If I had known that it was Bin Laden behind it I would have been straight on to my partners’. Gledhill: ‘You have dishonestly invented an allegation of bribery for the purposes of these proceedings’ #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton: ‘This loan absolutely stinks and it doesn’t stink on mine or Kevin’s side it is Prince Abdullah’s side that stinks. He still hadn’t repaid it by April 2018’ #sufc #twitterblades

That concludes this morning’s evidence session. We’ll be back at 2pm with more from Jeremy Tutton #sufc #twitterblades

We’re back after lunch and Mr Gledhill is asking Mr Tutton about his involvement in instructing SUL’s legal team in these proceedings. He confirms he has been very much involved #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill again suggests the bribery allegation was made in the hope Prince Abdullah would not have the nerve to come to an English court to defend himself. Tutton says he would have thought it made him more likely to attend #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill returning to the question of how the Charwell £3m loan would be repaid. Tutton says his understanding was that SUFC would decide whether it would be repaid in cash or equity #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill asking why Tutton did not make clear that the decision about how the loan would be repaid in the agreement. Tutton says he may have recycled an old loan agreement and agrees it is unclear #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill says it was his deliberate strategy to make the agreement ambiguous so the lenders wouldn’t question it. Tutton disagrees and says it is just his sloppiness again #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill saying Tutton is lying when he says McCabe told him that Prince Abdullah had said in Dubai they wouldn’t have to repay the loan. Says McCabe really wanted the loan to go through to get more money from rent for Scarborough #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton: ‘The reason I asked for the guarantee about the loan from Prince Abdullah was because we had spent ages getting the club debt free and we didn’t want it to have that burden again’ #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton: ‘Prince Abdullah doesn’t give a toss about the club. The whole thing stinks with UTB. You are making us out to be terrible people and it is really wrong’ #sufc #twitterblades

Talking now about the loan and how it may affect fair play rules for the football club. Tutton says there was ‘pure fear’ about the possibility it may lead a transfer embargo for Sheffield United #sufc #twitterblades

The loan was then split up between the partners. Gledhill says this was to ensure compliance with fair play rules and to equalise the imbalance between them. Tutton says it was mainly to meet fair play rules #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton says he thought the loan should have been Prince Abdullah’s responsibility but agreed it would be split up because he was under duress because of the embargo. Gledhill puts it to him that that is a fabrication #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill: ‘The reason you were more vocal about the loan was that you were angry about the refusal of Prince Abdullah to agree to rent increases’. Tutton says they were angry but says whether it was connected is another point #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton agrees with Gledhill’s claim that unless the rent went up at that time Scarborough would have to put its hand in its pocket. Mr Giansiracusa objected to the rent increase however and that meant it was costing McCabe money #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton says McCabe felt ‘cheated’ by the Prince’s refusal to agree to rent increases. Gledhill then asks when did he conclude that the loan was a bribe. Tutton says it was around the time they realised the loan wasn’t going to be converted into equity #sufc #twitterblades

But Gledhill says there is no mention of this on correspondence from that time. What the emails do say is that the Prince should ‘extinguish’ the loan. ‘You were suggesting the Prince should strongarm the lenders’, says Gledhill. Tutton disagrees #sufc #twitterblades

‘We were in a bad place about this and we weren’t going to let it lie’, says Tutton. But Gledhill says he said signed a legal document in July saying it would be repaid and the loan argument was part of a ‘tit for tat’ strategy between McCabe and Abdullah #sufc #twitterblades

Now looking at the summary of grievances document referred to earlier in the week. Gledhill says the bribe is not mentioned. Tutton says he thought it ‘went without saying’. Gledhill says that’s because they didn’t think it was #sufc #twitterblades

‘You manage to find the time to discuss Nigel Adkins but there is no mention of the alleged bribe’, says Gledhill. The Charwell loan was very soft and smelly and was unsecured. ‘It was very strange’, says Tutton. #sufc #twitterblades

Tutton says the fact the loan was interest free made them think it would be converted into equity. Gledhill says there are religious prohibitions in Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world against charging interest #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill says Andy Birks gave Tutton the surprising news that UTB has paid the loan back in full 6 months early. Gledhill says that Tutton perfectly well realised Birks had got it wrong and was confusing two separate things. Tutton denies this #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill: ‘You were trying to create a paper trail that was useful to you weren’t you? Tutton: ‘Yes, we were in litigation at that point’. ‘Quite’, says Gledhill #sufc #twitterblades

Gledhill: ‘You knew that Birks had misunderstood the complex arrangements of the loan but you failed to correct him’. Why would I do that, says Tutton #sufc #twitterblades

And that concludes the proceedings for the fifth day and the first week of the Sheffield United ownership trial at the High Court. A full report will be on thestar.co.uk this evening and in tomorrow’s print edition #sufc #twitterblades

The Star will have @samcoopernews in court on Monday to see the conclusion of Mr Tutton’s evidence. Mr Giansiracusa will then give evidence Wednesday to Friday before Prince Abdullah gives evidence the following week #sufc #twitterblades

I’d like to say thanks to you all for following the trial so closely this week. Many of your questions have really helped me understand what is going on better. I’m sure I’ll be back here at some point so please don’t all unfollow me just yet! #sufc #twitterblades

My report from a dramatic day at the high court in London #sufc #twitterblades

thestar.co.uk/business/blade…