1. LEGAL NEWS CONTRACT & TORT Rose Moore, Robert Simpson, Christopher Dalziel, Teck Chon

2. FOOTBALL AGENT WINS LIBEL CASE Article title: 'Willy McKay Awarded Substantial Damages' Date of article: 1 st February 2008 Article source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3290292.ece

3. THE TWO PARTIES Claimant : Willie McKay, football agent. Clients include many high-profile Premiership players, including Joey Barton Defendants : Express Newspapers, owned by Richard Desmond

4. THE FACTS OF THE CASE - In March 2006, Premier League launched inquiry, headed by Lord Stevens, into irregular payments in transfer dealings - In October 2006, Lord Stevens not prepared to sign off 39 of those transfers. - In December 2006, he was still not prepared to sign off on 17 of those - McKay involved in four of those transfers - Agent met with Inquiry team (Quest) in January 2007 to provide information

5. THE FACTS OF THE CASE - That same month, Daily Express published article about McKay and dealings - Stated that agent's meeting with Quest was an “interrogation”, and claimed McKay had previously been investigated by French judiciary as part of another probe into transfer fraud in France - McKay brought proceedings to the High Court

6. THE OUTCOME - 1 st February 2008 – McKay accepts substantial undisclosed libel damages - No clear evidence of irregular payments found in transfers which involved McKay. Agent “thanked for his co-operation” - Express Newspapers (and football journalist Harry Harris) accepted allegations were untrue. Agreed to pay legal costs as well as damages - Paper's counsel said they “welcomed the opportunity to set the record straight”

16. BREACH OF CONTRACT? ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR? Article title: 'B&Q and Bishop's Move: pay and wait' Date of article: 3 rd February 2008 Article source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/consumer_affairs/article3294103.ece

17. THE CONTROVERSIAL FACTS - Companies such as B&Q and Bishop's Move have been taking full payment before jobs are completed (in some cases, more than a year in advance) - Payment taken from moment contract has been signed - Companies have been direct debiting customers' accounts without their knowledge - Has even left one Bishop's Move customer overdrawn

18. BREACH OF CONTRACT LAW? What the customers say - Little bargaining power if something goes wrong - No legal protection - No knowledge of instant direct-debiting - Stung by small print

19. What the customers say Name : Emma Ward Age : 34 Location : Essex Company used : B&Q Her story : Paid £10, 400 for new bathroom and kitchen 12 months ago, but work did not start for three months. “ The whole thing took months to resolve. If I had known it would take so long to get things going, I would not have wanted to pay so much and so far in advance. A year later, my kitchen is still not finished”.

20. BREACH OF CONTRACT LAW? What the companies say - Acting within the law. Simply following terms and conditions of the contracts - Rules are clearly marked in small print. Therefore, the customers’ responsibility to read and check through thoroughly before agreeing and entering into contract - B&Q say that they are only doing what retailers of a similar service are currently doing - Bishop’s Move say that they are compliant with code of conduct drawn up by British Association of Removers

21. RESOLUTION? - British Association of Removers admit that code of conduct “could be tightened up” (could be addressed later this year) - Will tell members not to take payments so far in advance - Trust Mark feel that taking payment more than six weeks in advance of starting a job is “extreme” - The Office of Fair Trading is currently investigating companies’ codes of conduct as part of its consumer code approval scheme