Court orders committal and detention on foot of repeated refusal to comply with court order

Application for attachment and committal – civil contempt - alleged failure to comply with an order of the High Court – restrained from obstructing the receiver from taking possession of the receivership property – possession proceedings – loan facilities - cross-border merger - deed of assignment - substituted service – injunction proceedings – further order for substituted service – adjournment – did not comply with time limits prescribed by the court – further adjournments – did not appear in court – injunction proceeded in his absence and orders were made - appeared in person in application for attachment and committal – argued that the deed of appointment of receiver was invalid - necessity for strict compliance with the terms of the relevant mortgage - challenged the transfer of the charges by reference to the Land Registry rules – informed of the making of the orders – instructed a firm to secure the property – defendant refused to give possession – refused to comply with court order - protracted and desultory correspondence - willing to facilitate a meeting to discuss the practicalities of the defendant’s compliance with the order but the defendant wanted to meet to discuss the validity of the receiver’ appointment – brought application for attachment and committal – argued that the court order lacked the required detail - challenges the devolution of the loan and security were already advanced to, and ruled upon – challenge to the appointment of the receiver already ruled upon - confuses and conflates his obligations under the deed of charge and his obligations under the High Court order - compliance by the defendant with the order of the High Court will not in any way effect or undermine any argument he wishes to make at the trial of the action - failure to deliver a statement of claim - order was not conditional upon or subject to delivery of a statement of claim and the defendant’s obligation to comply with it was not limited, postponed, or absolved by the failure of the plaintiff to deliver a statement of claim in the time limited - subsequently delivered statement of claim – six months since delivery of statement of claim – no defence - abuse of process - cross motion was to dismiss the action by reason of the receiver’s failure to deliver a statement of claim - failure to deliver a statement of claim has no bearing on the defendant’s obligation to comply with the order and the receiver is entitled to move the court to compel him to do so – written submissions - civil contempt - A person should be given a reasonable opportunity to comply with the order in question before being committed to prison for contempt – Court offered the defendant the opportunity to further reflect on his position and to discuss it with his wife – still refused to obey the court order – argued that the order is inconsistent with a later decision of the High Court - court has jurisdiction to alter or vary interlocutory orders - not a case in which the court might exercise its jurisdiction to vary or set aside the order - given every opportunity to participate but did not - no change in circumstances - public interest in discouraging multiple applications for orders which have been refused applies equally to applications to set aside interlocutory orders by reference to new material that might have been but was not deployed on the earlier application - law is clear and there is no dispute as to the facts - as a matter of probability the defendant has been collecting rent or other money from the occupier of the house on the lands – Court orders defendant’s committal and detention until he purge his civil contempt.