back to article ZX Spectrum reboot scandal biz gets £35k legal costs delayed

The directors of the company at the heart of the ZX Spectrum reboot scandal have been ordered to pay yet more legal costs as they keep trying to kick their financial woes into the long grass. At a hearing in London’s Royal Courts of Justice earlier today, David Levy, Suzanne Martin, Janko Mrsic-Flogel and Retro Computers Ltd ( …

  1. Aladdin Sane

    £900 in extra costs. so that's another 7-8 customers who won't get their money back.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      No customer's getting any money, there are two solicitors who are first in the queue to be paid. I guess Levy & Co are only there now to try and avoid being held personally liable.

  2. PaulyV

    Horace goes repossessing.

    1. John70

      Horace Goes To Court

      1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

        Horace goes to Epping forest

        with some dodgy characters

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Horace goes to Epping forest

          "with some dodgy characters"

          ...a shovel, and many bags of quicklime.

          1. werdsmith Silver badge

            Re: Horace goes to Epping forest

            Dodgy indeed.

            One of Levy's other projejcts. Read it, watch the videos and see if you can imagine anything more weird than this:

            https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flirt-with-a-chatbot/x/17934435#/

            Bizarre is understating it.

            1. Alan Brown Silver badge

              Re: Horace goes to Epping forest

              "https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flirt-with-a-chatbot/x/17934435#/"

              Erm. I had a cheribot running on my bbs in about 1991. It was basically an Eliza but randomly came up with gems like "I can suck a golf ball down a garden hose". Some users spent _hours_ talking with it.

            2. Flywheel
              WTF?

              Re: Horace goes to Epping forest

              The bizarreness doesn't end there though! I downloaded David Levy's thesis via a link on Indiegogo. It's title is "Intimate Relationships with Artificial Partners" which is bad enough, but he's then added "Dedicated to the memory of my mother". I'm not sure what to say about that...

          2. PPK
            Happy

            Re: Horace goes to Epping forest

            To battle!:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFuIYyXiD5w

        2. VinceH
          Coat

          Re: Horace goes to Epping forest

          "with some dodgy characters"

          Well, that's 8-bit graphics for you.

          Especially when it's a 2-bit company behind it.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Angry Horace

      Horace and the Leeches

    3. pɹɐʍoɔ snoɯʎuouɐ

      Horace is still hungry...

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Horace goes Fleecing.

  3. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
    Coat

    Janko Mrsic-Flogel

    I am frankly surprised Janko is still having anything to do with RCL, hasn't resigned his directorship.

    Mine's the one with cut-out newspaper letters in the pocket ->

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. General Purpose

      Re: Janko Mrsic-Flogel

      He has. Companies House received notice on 17 August 2018 that he'd resigned on 7 August and Suzanne Martin on 3 August.

      1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: Janko Mrsic-Flogel

        Thanks for the heads-up. I mistakenly assumed that as both appeared to have presented themselves in court representing RCL they were still directors.

        So that just leaves Levy as the sole director. And RCL the only active company he is a director of. Though how long RCL remains active would be worthy of a sweepstake.

        1. General Purpose

          Re: Janko Mrsic-Flogel

          It seems they were representing themselves after being made individually liable for costs back in 2017, and Mrsic-Flogel was trying to find out if there was any escape.

          When even lawyers aren't getting paid, a sweepstake sounds like the best bet.

  4. Oh Homer
    Coat

    Jet Set Levy

    Gets crushed by Monty Python's giant foot in the Nightmare Room.

    1. Spartacus Mills

      Re: Jet Set Levy

      Dr. Levy Will Never Believe This

  5. Dan 55 Silver badge

    The master also asked Levy in passing whether RCL was still in existence, to which its chairman replied: “Yes.”

    Well you couldn't tell from their Facebook and Twitter (looks like it's been hijacked) accounts.

  6. DrBed
    Happy

    Humpty Dumpty Levy

    Whenever I stumble to something about D. Levy, it always reminds me of Humpty Dumpty.

    "Exclusive EGGHEAD Vega+ crap-games collection" is not of any help here. :)

    Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the King's men... Could not put Humpty together again.

    1. The Oncoming Scorn Silver badge
      Coat

      To The Tune Of American Pie

      Hi Hi back to emulating on my Raspberry Pi

      Paid for my Veggy to Mr Levy, but the Vega was a lie.

      And them good ol lawyers are drinking whiskey and rye

  7. Horaced

    NEWS

    In unannounced and fractious news, a dishevelled cloud-sprigged haired man was found dumped in a fit of derangement outside a courtroom building today. From decoded utterings it was ascertained he’d been assaulted by a gorilla and a baboon on at least one occasion, both these mammalian monsters wielding fuzzy implements intent on bowdlerising his manhood.

    “*&$&$!(*)!” He exclaimed (hence exclamations), and “CUNS!” - as near as we can indicate.

    Decoded, it appears he’d been sat upon by an old Floggie and a ‘Vanna. The Floggie having manhandled him into a state of prostrated submission, the ‘Vanna goosing him with a feather duster. Yes we know that’s quite a few animals and vague sounding names all told - but the man was deranged - and we’re doing our best. And: It was outside a courthouse where this kind of thing rarely plays well.

    “!!!!!!” He spat, dusting himself off in obscene places (nb., not just outside the courthouse) then set to checking his most southerly ports, looking askance in random directions. These final fumbles sending a rake of trembling fear along his less shambolic parts and we did detect some weaknesses here.

    “I’m not too lame!” He yelled, waving us off, staggering foot to foot, wiping his mouth with a torn shirt collar and breathing in rapid, halting gasps.

    In later analysis we believe the old man had actually said: “I’m not to blame,” but this is contentious. We’ll have to wait until the next court date to get at the truth.

  8. Paul 87

    The comments in court do seem to indicate that some of the people present shouldn't have agreed to be a Director for the company as they had no idea of their legal and personal responsibilities that comes with the role!

    1. bpfh

      dura lex sed lex and caveat emptor

      becoming a “director” and being a company director named and registered with Company House are 2 different things. Me wonders if some people may have been a bit economical with the truth when handing out random directorships - and diluting overall responsibility - or even if they were aware of the sort of director they were becoming ?

      1. razorfishsl

        Re: dura lex sed lex and caveat emptor

        A real director needs to:

        1. own shares

        2. Be registered on the companies documents & at company house.

        What is printed on a business card means F.A as regards to the legal status of being a cony representative.

        1. General Purpose

          Re: dura lex sed lex and caveat emptor

          Generally speaking and in this particular case, it's not true that "a real director needs to own shares".

          Company law doesn't say directors have to own shares, companies can be limited by guarantee and not have shares at all, the model articles for companies limited by shares don't say directors have to own shares, and the articles of Retro Computers (available at Companies House) don't require that the directors have shares.

        2. joewilliamsebs

          Re: dura lex sed lex and caveat emptor

          Absolutely no requirement to own shares, although they often do.

          Directors are appointed by Shareholders to run the Company on their behalf. Owning shares clearly provides an incentive to perform, but it's perfectly possible to be a Director, registered as such as Companies House, without owning any shares.

      2. Cuddles

        Re: dura lex sed lex and caveat emptor

        "Me wonders if some people may have been a bit economical with the truth when handing out random directorships"

        If they're officially directors, they must have signed a contract appointing them as such. Anyone who signs a contract giving them legal and financial responsibilities without knowing exactly what it says (and getting a lawyer to help with that if needed) has only themselves to blame.

        1. General Purpose

          Re: dura lex sed lex and caveat emptor

          "If they're officially directors, they must have signed a contract appointing them as such."

          You're a director from the AGM or EGM at which you're appointed by the shareholders or from the board meeting at which you're co-opted. No contract's required.

  9. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Inferences

    So RCL can't get documents from 'their' solicitors and their solicitors are no longer representing them?

    Sounds like someone else hasn't been paid for work done.

    I think court fees on the other hand have to be paid upfront. Very wise.

  10. keithpeter Silver badge
    Coat

    "If you have difficulties you can apply back to the court for an extension of time. That’s not going to be looked on with great sympathy."

    Sounds like FOAD to me. I kept hearing Rumpole type accents when reading the OA.

  11. cornwall

    They should sell them on eBay - they're going for >£200! I'm sure they have enough made - right? ;-)

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This case is turning into a real Jarndyce and Jarndyce.

  13. Lotaresco

    Stinking barrel of fish

    It became obvious that there was something extremely fishy about RCL last year when, having crashed out of Indiegogo they decided to try to raise money directly via Facebook. Many of the people replying to that "offer" were unaware of the history of RCL and were incredulous when warned that all was not as it seemed. Several declared loudly that they either wanted a console so badly that they would take the risk or that they thought that the warnings were from "trolls" setting out to blacken the names of the noble directors.

    I wonder how much dosh they raised through that route?

  14. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

    "You all need to be parties for the purposes of paying costs in proceedings.”

    shit just got real eh?

  15. GrapeBunch

    Mind Sport

    There are a lot of people named David Levy. This one I know as a chess International Master, so IM David Levy. I was sympathetic to his plight in the fracas related to the mind competitions. Here is The Archive of a 2001 article referred to tangentially in the wikipedia, so truly a footnote to history:

    http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=71910

    What to make of this 17 years later? As another spectral line? I have no idea.

  16. adam payne

    “May I ask the question, if our solicitors are unable or unwilling for any reason to provide the documents, are we entitled to seek those documents from the other side and are they?”

    You haven't paid them have you Levy.

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