DCC €18.7m damages case upheld

DCC has taken another step closer to claiming the €18.7 million in damages it was awarded by the High Court in London earlier this year.

The court threw out an appeal by Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing, which lost a breach of contract case taken against it by a subsidiary of DCC.

The Taiwanese company had supplied mobility products to the Irish firm for a number of years but the deal ended in dispute in 2002 and DCC launched a legal case against it claiming brach of contract.

The loss of the products meant that DCC’s healthcare division suffered a terrible year as it was forced to source new products.

DCC won the case in January and was awarded damages and costs.

However, Pihsiang appealed the decision and the money was not paid out.

Proceedings in court recently certified its judgement as final, binding on and enforceable against each of the three defendants - Pihsiang Machinery Manufacturing, Donald Wu, its chairman and major shareholder, and Jenny Wu, his wife.

Mr and Mrs Wu were ordered to present themselves in the High Court last Thursday for examination of their assets and their company.

They failed to appear and the High Court held that they were guilty of contempt of court.

It has ordered Mr Wu be committed to prison for 28 days and has issued a warrant for his arrest.

DCC said the payment is still outstanding and it will now pursue the money by applying to the Taiwanese courts for enforcement of the London High Court judgement in Taiwan.

DCC has since launched a new range of powered mobility scooters for the European market and are manufactured by Taiwanese company KYMCO.