Facts:
- A final order, made in 2015, required H to transfer the ownership of a company to W. H had given undertakings to take all necessary steps to ensure that W could manage the company effectively, including to provide W with all necessary documents and information.
- H failed to comply with this undertaking. W began enforcement proceedings during which H was ordered to provide the documents to W on two occasions (February 2016 and July 2016). H failed to comply with these orders. W made an application for H’s committal.
Held, granting W’s application:
- W had proved ‘with ease’ that H was in contempt of court regarding his undertaking, the order of February 2016, and the order of July 2016.
- H’s contempt of court was ‘very serious’: it was persistent and had continued from the time of his undertaking to the time of the committal application. Since the committal application, H had only partially remedied his contempt. H had shown no remorse for his contempt, and had provided untruthful evidence in the course of the hearing.
- H was motivated by a wish to demonstrate his resentment about the financial orders made in W’s favour. Through H’s contemptuous actions, significant pressure and expense had been placed on W, just as H had intended.
- The contempt was so serious, persistent and damaging that despite H’s advanced age of 83, only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate. The sentence must combine punitive and coercive elements, set at 9 months and 5 months respectively, to result in an overall sentence of 14 months, 7 months of which would be served in prison.