Richard Thomson-Moore's wife Anna Thomson-Moore told the High Court on Friday that, despite numerous handshakes on the night of the purported sale of their 751ac Barne Estate to John Magnier, the deal was still subject to approval by the estate's trustees.

Mrs Thomson-Moore, a solicitor by profession, was in the witness box for the second day in a row where she recalled the events of 22 August 2023.

Coolmore boss John Magnier and his family are taking a case against the Thomson-Moores to enforce an alleged deal to buy Barne Estate which Mr Magnier claims was agreed for €15m.

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"Yes, there were various handshakes around the table, I don’t remember the order of the handshakes. I can’t have predicted what their [the trustees'] answer was going to be," Mrs Thomson-Moore told the court.

While cross-examining Mrs Thomson-Moore, Paul Gallagher legal counsel for Coolmore said: "Mrs Thomson-Moore, you knew that the trustees were anxious to sell, you knew that the reserve figure was €13.5m, that the figure that was put on it was €13.5m to €15m and you knew that if you were satisfied, there was no prospect of the trustees saying 'We'll reject that'."

Mrs Thomson-Moore said that while it was unlikely that the trustees would reject the offer of €15m, ultimately it was "their decision to decide".

Mr Gallagher asked Mrs Thomson-Moore whether she disputed that the phrase "We have a deal" was uttered by her side on the night of the meeting with John Magnier, his wife Susan, Richard Thomson-Moore, estate agent John Stokes and herself.

She replied: "Yes, I believe that's what Mr Stokes said."

Anna Thomson-Moore also told the court that she later wrote to the trustees of Barne Estate when Maurice Regan began offering more money than Mr Magnier had agreed to pay for the property on 22 August 2023.

The court heard that she had written a letter by email on behalf of herself as the mother of a child with high care needs, who was unlikely to ever live independently, and that there was potentially another €2m available.

“I was concerned that they weren’t giving consideration to the increased offer,” Anna Thomson-Moore said.

“The trustees had made their position clear that they were going to stick with Coolmore,” she said, referring to a discussion between the Thomson-Moores and the Barne Estate trustees. “They thought that Mr Magnier’s offer had certainty and was attractive and they would proceed on that basis.”

In the letter, she told the trustees that she wanted them to explore precisely what the scope of “possible consequences of breach of the execution agreement?”.

Higher offer

The court heard that the trustees were concerned that they would breach the terms of the exclusivity agreement that Richard Thomson-Moore had signed on behalf of Barne Estates and its agents not to entertain bids from any other party following the alleged 22 August 2023 deal with John Magnier.

However, despite this concern, the court heard that John Stokes was instructed to tell Mr Magnier about the higher offer for Barne made by Mr Regan.

“There was some hope that he [Mr Magnier] might increase his offer,” Anna Thomson-Moore told the court, if Mr Magnier were made aware of Mr Regan’s bid.

The case continues under judge Max Barrett.