‘The council is of the opinion that the claim can be successfully resisted’
A note in the accounts of East Northamptonshire District Council shows the former authority was once confident of winning its case against wronged publican Geoff Monks
Exclusive by Sarah Ward
The former East Northamptonshire District Council (ENDC) was confident it could win the case against a wronged publican, a discreet note on its annual accounts show.
Last month North Northamptonshire Council agreed to settle a legal action and pay £4m to former publican Geoff Monks, whose livelihood and health was ruined after he was convicted of food safety offences following wrongful prosecutions by ENDC in the late 1990s.
Monks also spent several weeks in jail in 2003, after being unable to pay the hefty fine imposed by magistrates for an alleged food hygiene offence at his upmarket country pub, the Snooty Fox in Lowick. He was in the same wing as child killer Ian Huntley during his stay at HMP Woodhill.