JJB ex-chief’s court plea fails

Chris Ronnie, the former boss of the collapsed sports chain JJB, has failed to have his court case for an alleged £1m fraud thrown out.

The Serious Fraud Office had been accused by Ronnie’s legal team of jeopardising up to 15 fraud trials – including his own – by delegating the decision to investigate each case to someone who was not a qualified lawyer. But Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith threw out the claim at Southwark Crown Court, saying the SFO director at the time, Richard Alderman, could lawfully delegate the decisions.