A wealthy businessman jailed for money laundering has failed in legal challenge to win back £1.8m in assets seized from him by the courts.
Darren Bagnall, 44, who lives in a gated property at Westgate, Monk Bretton, was stripped of the assets and tried to overturn the ruling on human rights grounds.
He was unable to convince judges, although he was not present at the hearing at the Court of Appeal in London, and the Chronicle broke the news to him on Wednesday. He said he was 'taken by surprise' and intends to take his case to the Supreme Court.
The court was told that in 2005 he was jailed for 15 months for money laundering and was ordered to hand over £1.8m under a confiscation order.
His lawyers argued he should not have been ordered to pay so much. They secured a £200,000 cut in the bill, but failed to convince judges his human rights were violated
Solicitor Shahid Ali issued a statement, saying: "We are very disappointed at the judgement. This is a case in which serious allegations were made against Mr Bagnall with regards to his business and financial dealings, which were not proven in any criminal court."
