A KPMG tax consultant that Coolmore referred the Thomson-Moores to for tax advice reported back to Coolmore about the Barne owners and their tax affairs, it was alleged in court last week.

Barrister Martin Hayden, acting for defendants Richard Thomson-Moore, Barne Estate and two Jersey-registered companies, read the contents of an email from Coolmore adviser Eddie Irwin to John Magnier on 15 September.

“Got off the record report from Andrew Gallagher. The Thomson-Moores do not know he is keeping me in the loop.”

John Magnier responded that his understanding was that Mr Gallagher had told the Thomson-Moores that he was “keeping us in the loop”.

The email allegedly sent from Gallagher to Eddie Irwin included a summary of the tax implications for the Thomson-Moores depending on whether Richard’s father was domiciled in Ireland or not. Mr Hayden told Mr Magnier that the first the Thomson-Moores knew about their tax information being given to Coolmore was when they saw the message during the discovery. They “had no idea that you were, or that Coolmore was being kept in the loop,” Mr Hayden told the Coolmore boss.

“We were only trying to help them,” Mr Magnier told the court.