Multi-millionaire who gave street sweeper drinking buddy £200,000 when he fell on hard times takes him to court demanding he pay it back

• John Rankin Cornforth, 62, gave money to Simon Denyer between 2012 and 2014
• He now claims sums of money were given as loans and is demanding payment
• But Mr Denyer claims that money was given as a gift so doesn’t have to repay 

A multi-millionaire who gave £200,000 to a street sweeper when he fell on hard times nearly 10 years ago is now suing him to make him pay it back. 

John Rankin Cornforth, 62, a former legal clerk who inherited ‘millions of pounds’ when his ‘rich’ father died, handed local authority street cleaner Simon Denyer around £200,000 in three chunks between 2012 and 2014.

Mr Cornforth, who has a £1.5million home in the Guildford area and property in New Zealand worth £600,000, was already living a wealthy lifestyle on a substantial family trust fund before he came into his inheritance.

He had become ‘drinking buddies’ with Mr Denyer after meeting him at a New Year’s Eve party and handed his impoverished friend £76,300 to cover the costs of an ‘acrimonious’ divorce he was going through in 2012 and then another £125,000 to pay off the mortgage on his flat in 2014.

John Rankin Cornforth (pictured), 62, a former legal clerk who inherited ‘millions of pounds’ when his ‘rich’ father died, handed local authority street cleaner Simon Denyer around £200,000 in three chunks between 2012 and 2014

But Mr Cornforth is now suing his former pal in a bid to force him to pay all of the ‘enormous sum’ back, plus interest.

But Mr Denyer, who at the time the money was handed over was employed as a street cleaner by Guildford Borough Council, is fighting the case, claiming that the majority of the money was given as a ‘gift’ by his rich friend.

Chris Howitt, for Mr Denyer, told Mayors and City County Court that the men first met at a New Year’s Eve Party in 1979 and had become ‘drinking partners and good buddies’.

They both came from wealthy family backgrounds, with Mr Denyer being the son of the former Mayor of Elmbridge whilst Mr Cornforth’s father was described in court as ‘a rich man who supported (him) generously throughout his life’.

But their fortunes had veered in opposite directions by 2012, with Mr Cornforth having inherited ‘millions of pounds’ in cash and shares from his father, whereas Mr Denyer was cleaning streets for the local council and facing a ‘highly acrimonious and thoroughly unpleasant’ divorce from his then wife Tracy.

Mr Cornforth had become ‘drinking buddies’ with Mr Denyer (pictured) after meeting him at a New Year’s Eve party and handed his impoverished friend £76,300 to cover the costs of an ‘acrimonious’ divorce he was going through in 2012 and then another £125,000 to pay off the mortgage on his flat in 2014

Both of the former friends agree that Mr Cornforth handed Mr Denyer £26,300 to cover the legal costs of his divorce in 2012, another £50,000 to pay a settlement sum to his ex in 2013, and £125,000 to pay off the mortgage on his flat in the surrey village of Shalford in 2014.

But while Mr Denyer accepts that the divorce monies were loans and had to be paid back, he claims his pal paid off his mortgage as ‘a gift’.

He also says there was no interest payable on the loans made nearly ten years ago.

Mr Cornforth, however, insists that all the money he gave his pal was by way of loans which he is now demanding he repays.

He also wants interest on the divorce loans at one per cent above Bank of England base rate for the last ten years.

Mr Cornforth (pictured) insists that all the money he gave his pal was by way of loans which he is now demanding he repays

Giving evidence, Mr Cornforth told Judge Stephen Hellman that £200,000 is ‘not a huge sum’ to him, but that he had ‘trusted’ his pal to pay it back.

But his friend’s barrister replied: ‘For Mr Denyer, who is a street cleaner, that is an enormous sum,’ going on to allege that Mr Cornforth had known Mr Denyer would not be able to pay him back.

‘He was in a dire financial situation. This was a gift wasn’t it, because he was your friend, wasn’t it?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Mr Cornforth replied.

David Brounger, for Mr Cornforth, explained that his case is that the two men agreed that all the monies were loans and would be repayable in ten years’ time, because Mr Denyer was hopeful that he would by then have come into an inheritance himself.

However, Mr Howitt told the judge that Mr Cornforth has ‘no written record’ and ‘no documentary evidence’ to prove that the monies handed over were loans, except for a reference in Mr Denyer’s divorce paperwork relating to the divorce cash.

But Mr Cornforth told the judge he had not asked for any written proof of making the loans to his pal ‘because I trusted him’.

The hearing continues.

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