Three company directors banned from holding directorships

Three company directors from two separate companies in Northern Ireland have been disqualified from their positions and banned from holding directorships for a total of 19 years after they ran up combined debts of almost £2.5 million.

The cases were brought by the Insolvency Service of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment under the Companies (NI) Order 1989 which seeks to protect the public and trading community from the abuses of the privilege conferred by limited liability status.

The most severe sentence was handed down to Herbert Darwin Martin from Banbridge who was disqualified from being a company director for nine years as a result of his conduct as director of Euro-Software-Systems Limited.

Euro-Software-Systems Limited provided Software and Computer Services from premises at Wildflower Way, Belfast from 1985 to November 1998. It was wound up by the High Court on 12 January 1999 with debts estimated at £1,242,287.

The matters of unfitness found by the Court and for which Herbert Darwin Martin was disqualified included: failing to ensure that the company's accounting records were preserved and causing the company to be financed by non-payment of £50,204 of debts properly payable to the Crown in respect of VAT, PAYE income tax and National Insurance Contributions.

The court commented: “It is hard to see in the absence of any defence being put up by the Respondent (Mr Martin), how a limited Company could have been run in a more cavalier way.”

Meanwhile, brothers John Stevenson Adgey and David William Adgey were also disqualified from being company directors for six and four years respectively as a result of their conduct as directors of James Anderson Limited.

Their company traded in the manufacture, supply and fitting of window furnishings and industrial doors from premises at Hillview Enterprise Park, Belfast and had estimated debts of £1,128,000. (AMcE)