Denis O'Brien snr, father of telecoms tycoon Denis O'Brien jnr, told the Moriarty (payments to politicians) tribunal yesterday he thought he was being blackmailed when he received a document linking Michael Lowry to a property deal in Doncaster.
Mr O'Brien was giving evidence as part of the tribunal's inquiry into the purchase of Doncaster Rovers Football Club Ltd for stg£4.3 million in August 1998. Mr O'Brien jnr has said the deal was exclusively his and had nothing to do with Mr Lowry.
Mr O'Brien snr said he was "flabbergasted" by a document received from a Northern Ireland businessman, Kevin Phelan, which mentioned "ML" in relation to the Doncaster deal.
"In all my dealings on Doncaster, every foot of the way, Michael Lowry never came into it," Mr O'Brien told John Coughlan SC, for the tribunal. "That's why I was totally flabbergasted. It seemed terribly strange to me. It had to be some sort of intimidation or blackmail. I could think of no other explanation."
The document was sent in 2002 to William Fry solicitors, who were acting for the O'Brien family interests, in a dispute with Mr Phelan over fees Mr Phelan was claiming he was due for work on the Doncaster project.
Mr O'Brien said: "We did not just pay over the money and say, let's see if we can keep that man quiet." He said they wrote to Mr Phelan's solicitors, Woodcock & Sons in England, seeking an explanation.
Mr O'Brien agreed with Mr Coughlan that the matter was never brought to the attention of the tribunal, "but that was nothing to do with me . . . I was taking advice from William Fry . . . If they had said this had to be brought to the attention of the tribunal, I would have said sure."
Mr O'Brien said Mr Coughlan should "not give me the responsibility of not bringing it to the attention of the tribunal". He asked if Mr Coughlan was saying it was the fault of Owen O'Connell, a senior partner with William Fry.
Mr Coughlan said Mr O'Connell was a very responsible solicitor and Mr O'Brien then asked: "Are you saying it was my fault?"
Mr Coughlan said: "You were the client."
Mr O'Brien asked Mr Coughlan to withdraw his remarks and Mr Coughlan said he would not. Mr O'Brien sought the view of the chairman, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty.
Mr Justice Moriarty said the tribunal was "not concerned at this stage with any findings of that nature. We are just looking at the facts." Shortly afterwards, when Mr Coughlan asked if Mr O'Brien would like to take a break from giving evidence, Mr O'Brien said: "Not at all, I'm enjoying this."
The tribunal was shown documents from William Fry connected to inquiries it initiated to resolve the "ML" matter in which it was stated that the firm had no alternative given the circumstances.
Eventually Mr Phelan said the reference to ML was a reference to Mr Lowry, but not in connection to Doncaster but rather to another property transaction in Mansfield which involved Mr Lowry and Mr Phelan. The tribunal had already been informed of this transaction.
Mr O'Brien also told the tribunal that he made a complaint to police in London in 2002 alleging blackmail again involving the Doncaster deal but this time by the vendors of the Doncaster property.
Mr O'Brien is to continue his evidence on Tuesday.