Magnier lawyers claim construction magnate funding owners' defence on alleged reneged estate sale

Mr Justice Michael Quinn adjourned the case for several weeks, allowing the defendants to remedy their “incomplete and grossly inadequate” discovery of documents

Irish businessman John Magnier arriving at the High Court, Dublin, where it was claimed that recently discovered documents were evidence of Maurice Regan 'bullying and threatening' custodians of the Co Tipperary estate. Picture Collins Courts

Lawyers acting for John Magnier have claimed that Maurice Regan, the US-based construction magnate, is funding the owners of the Barne Estate in their defence of a High Court action taken by the Coolmore Stud billionaire.

Mr Magnier’s proceedings are anchored in the claim that the owners of the Barne Estate reneged on a purported deal to sell the 751-acre estate to him for €15m, instead choosing to sell to Mr Regan for a higher price.