An English solicitor has contradicted evidence given to the Moriarty Tribunal by former Government Minister Michael Lowry concerning a £4.3 million property deal in Doncaster in 1998.
Christopher Vaughan has said a letter he wrote to Mr Lowry in September 1998, a month after the purchase of a company that had a lease on a football grounds in Doncaster, was a contemporaneous account of what had happened during a visit to England by Mr Lowry where he met with Mr Vaughan.
Mr Lowry has said in earlier evidence that he had no involvement with the Doncaster deal and that the letter written to him by Mr Vaughan was never received by him. He also said the letter was incorrect in saying that he was involved with the Doncaster deal, or that he had discussed detailed aspects of the deal with Mr Vaughan during his visit. The letter was written the day after the visit and states that Mr Vaughan was enclosing documentation associated with the deal.
Mr Lowry has said he had "no detailed discussion" with Mr Vaughan during a trip they made together in a car to Leicester. However Mr Vaughan said he wrote the letter based on the mistaken impression he formed during the car trip that Mr Lowry was involved with the Doncaster deal, arising from the discussion in the car on the matter. Jerry Healy SC, for the tribunal, read a passage in the letter which referred to the need to divest assets from the company that had been purchased, and Mr Vaughan said this was a record of what had been discussed. "The contemporary evidence is correct, which is my letter," he said.
The tribunal has been told by businessman Denis O'Brien that he funded the purchase of Doncaster Rovers Football Club Ltd, and that it had nothing to do with Mr Lowry.
