Acting on behalf of the appellant, Aidan Reay has succeeded on appeal to the High Court sitting in the Cardiff District Registry.
The first instance judge had dismissed a bankruptcy petition against a surety on the basis that the petition debt was secured by virtue of a retention of title clause in the contract between the petitioner and the principal. Following dismissal of the petition, Aidan was brought onto the case to settle the application for permission to appeal and to represent the petitioner at the appeal hearing.
His Honour Judge Jarman QC, sitting as a judge of the High Court, allowed the petitioner’s appeal and remitted the matter to the County Court on the basis that the judge at first instance had erred in law. The High Court accepted the appellant’s position that a retention of title clause in the principal’s contract with the petitioner is not security which must be declared in a statutory demand or a petition as it is not security over the property of the debtor within the meaning of s.383(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986.