CA-2025-000783 - [2025] EWCA Civ 986

On 14 August 2023 Mr Holloway applied without notice to Mellor J for an imaging order against Mr Hazlehurst. Mr Holloway swore an affidavit in support of the application, his second, in which he said that he did not know Mr Hazlehurst, had not received or sent any of the WhatsApp Messages and believed them to be forgeries. He also said that he had taken legal advice as soon as served with the Freezing Order on 10 August 2023, had attended a meeting with his solicitors and counsel on 11 August 2023 and had delivered up his phone to a firm of forensic IT experts called MD5 the same afternoon. Mr Jacques made an affidavit in support of the application, again his second, in which he also said that he did not know Mr Hazlehurst, had not received or sent any of the WhatsApp Messages and believed them to be forgeries. He also said that the police had his phone. Mellor J duly made an order for imaging of Mr Hazlehurst’s phone by a firm of forensic IT experts called CYFOR under the supervision of a solicitor called Steven Morris (“the Imaging Order”).

There were problems serving the Imaging Order on Mr Hazlehurst because he is a self-employed truck driver and site supervisor working long hours away from home, which led to further orders being made by Trower J on 24 August 2023 and by Leech J on 29 August 2023. This led to Mr Morris being replaced by Daniel Williams.

In the meantime the Freezing Order was continued in varied form pursuant to orders of Mellor J dated 16 and 18 August 2023 and of Leech J dated 31 August 2023. The last of these orders made it clear that the assets frozen did not include certain companies in which Mr Holloway and Mr Jacques were interested.

On 14 September 2023 the Imaging Order was served on Mr Hazlehurst and he delivered up his phone to CYFOR in the presence of Mr Williams. As explained below, it subsequently emerged that this was a different phone to the one Mr Hazlehurst had had on 26 July 2023.