Despite seven figure legal costs following a court case for ‘noise nuisance’ Mildenhall boss Dave Coventry has confirmed that he intends to carry on trading and expects little change in the coming months.
Coventry said: “So far we haven’t heard from them and I am not expecting anything to happen for some time. We will continue to operate the motorsport and the greyhounds with one meeting per week. We still have a good following among the dog people.
“We will continue to race every Friday which is worthwhile from a business point of view and we have lots of bookings going into August. Ideally, if we can sort it out with the motorsport, I would also like one Saturday night a month for the dogs.”
Coventry anticipates that his lawyers will want to take the case into the European Courts as the judgement has potentially huge repercussion for the UK Government in terms of legal aid awards.
However, the nature of the case leads the Mildenhall promoter to believe other ‘ambulance chaser’ lawyers will be smelling blood elsewhere.
It seems highly likely that other individuals will be convinced to pursue claims at sports stadia staging motorsport at no cost to themselves.
In greyhound terms, these would include Belle Vue, Perry Barr, Swindon, Poole, Monmore, Sheffield and Newcastle.
This is based on a model whereby the lawyers for the complainants operate on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, but knowing that effectively they will always be paid.
This is because they are insured against losing, with the insurance company prepared to take a gamble that they can claim the premium from the losing defendents.
Coventry said: “I am aware of another case that is already going to court and our stock car industry have arranged a meeting to see what can be done. They all feel vulnerable.”
* The original damages award for nuisance, prior to the protracted legal battle, was a mere £10,325.
