Royal Croquet Club founders Stuart Duckworth and Tom Skipper agree on District Court trial date to defend $708,000 legal claim

A $708,000 legal claim against the duo behind the Royal Croquet Club will go to trial.

Former Royal Croquet Club directors Tom Skipper and Stuart Duckworth, pictured leaving a District Court hearing last week, are being sued for $708,000. Picture: Dylan Coker

A $708,000 legal claim against the duo behind the Royal Croquet Club will go to trial.

Tom Skipper and Stuart Duckworth have agreed to an April 4 court date to for an expected one-day District Court trial to argue against the immediate repayment of a loan given to them by Adelaide businessmen Leigh Morgan and Mathew Fitch.

The Advertiser revealed exclusively last week that Mr Morgan and Mr Fitch, through their company New Social Investments, had launched legal action to call in a loan issued in November 2016.

The pair allege that Mr Duckworth and Mr Skipper had at various times failed to comply with demands for payment under the loan agreement which had been issued to RCC’s parent company The Social Creative, which is in liquidation.

Mr Skipper and Mr Duckworth, in their defence documents, denied that claim and instead said they had entered into a subsequent agreement to pay instalments of at least $18,000.

Mr Skipper attended a directions hearing this morning without legal representation.

Kerry Clark, counsel for NSI, requested this morning requested a trial date be set for a time that would allow Mr Skipper and Mr Duckworth time to obtain legal advice.

“I imagine it (trial) will run more smoothly if they are represented and I don’t want to stand in the way of that nor does my client,” she said.

She told Judge Sydney Tilmouth that the case should only take half a day.

“There won’t be any witnesses, it’s just a matter of the court looking at documents and hearing legal argument,” she said.

“My anticipation is, should the defendants get legal representation, that the documents before the court will be agreed.”

She said her instructions were to oppose any mediation because her clients considered the dispute “intractable”.

“There’s no middle ground ... we are ready to proceed this to trial,” she said.

Mr Skipper told the court he could obtain legal representation within a “two-week time frame”.

Judge Tilmouth gave Mr Skipper until March 23 to file any documents he and Mr Duckworth would rely upon in their defence and set a court date for April 4.

Mr Duckworth and Mr Skipper relinquished control of the RCC as part of a takeover by Adelaide businessmen Roberto Cardone and Jason Di Iulio last month, who formed the New Royal Croquet Club.

Mr Cardone and Mr Di Iulio have no involvement in the legal claim nor will it have any bearing on this year’s Fringe event.