Skilled lawyers duelled while the jury was kept out

A significant portion of the 11-week trial was taken up by sometimes heated argument in the absence of the jury focusing on the issue of legal advice taken by Anglo at the time of the Maple plan.

Evidence of the advice was a major feature of the trial until early March when the prosecution got it excluded.

In 2008, Anglo had recruited reputable solicitors, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, to guide it on the legality of the Maple deal. From the trial’s beginning it was a defence strategy to use evidence of this advice to show the accused fulfilled their duties as directors in ensuring the deal was in line with law.