While masqueraders prepare for the annual Notting Hill Carnival on August bank holiday, a comedy of errors has unfolded at Court 56 in the chancery division of the high court on the Strand. Claire Holder, former chief executive of the Notting Hill Carnival Trust, presented a case against the trustees, in particular Ansel Wong and Debi Gardner, for non-payment of £40,000 in salary after she was locked out of the trust's offices in March 2002. She was fired by letter six months later.
Wong had taken the lead in a public campaign to discredit Holder, among other things telling the London Evening Standard that she had broken charity law by employing her brother Danny and sister Pat without consulting the board.
The judge cast a beady eye on Wong and Gardner, who represented themselves, and proceeded to establish that nothing of the kind had taken place. An audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that there had been no deception, no unjust or illegal financial advantage, and no misrepresentation of financial statements or records, whether intentional or otherwise. More than that, the minutes of trust meetings showed that Wong and Gardner were among those who had voted in favour of the appointment of both members of the Holder family.
It was also pointed out that Holder steered the organisation from penury into safe waters, amassing reserves of £200,000 as she did so, but that the new dispensation, with Wong in the chair, soon went on a spending spree that exhausted both the current account and reserves. Wong shuffled and Gardner's head remained bowed as the judge concluded that they had "severely traduced Ms Holder's good name", and that a public apology was necessary.
The judgment ordered Wong, Gardner and the other trustees to pay Holder £60,000, the judge adding that the penalty would have been higher if the plaintiff had requested damages for the abuse to her character.
So here's to Claire Holder - and while we are at it, a second toast to Mr and Mrs Mitchell, landlords of my local, the Angel pub, who faced eviction following allegations that they had allowed drugs to be sold on their premises. A few weeks ago I drew attention to the matter in these pages, and I am happy to report that the police have now withdrawn the accusations.
