Branson's victory: Salmon, chilled chardonnay and then the bribe bombshell

For the record, they ate baked salmon off the bone, new potatoes and salad followed by meringue and coffee. The meal, accompanied by a chilled French chardonnay, was served in the glass conservatory at the rear of Richard Branson's house and office at 11 Holland Park, west London.

Mr Branson, John Jackson - the man who was heading the Branson consortium bid to run the lottery - and Guy Snowden sat around half of a circular table.

It was during the dessert, which Mr Snowden apparently found difficult to eat, that the head of US-based GTech, tried to bribe Mr Branson to drop his bid to run the lottery. "He was sweating, mopping his forehead. He shuffled towards me and then he came out with those incredible words," recalled Mr Branson.

The so-called incredible words, which were at the centre of the three- week trial, were as follows: "I don't know how to phrase this, Richard. There's always a bottom line. I'll get to the point. In what way can we help you? I mean, what can I do for you personally?"

Mr Branson, flabbergasted by what he had heard, went to the lavatory. Mr Snowden left minutes later. The coffee wasn't touched.

Mr Branson said the words amounted to an attempted bribe, and after two and a half hours' consideration, the jury agreed. While he admitted Mr Snowden did not specifically ask him to drop his bid, he said the inference of their conversation that autumn day was clear: Mr Branson's plan to launch a bid to run the lottery for no profit could only harm GTech. It would at least be enough to encourage the Government to trim the operator's profits, while at worst Mr Branson's bid might even succeed in winning the contract.

The stakes were certainly large. Under the National Lottery Act of 1993, for every pound spent by the public 50p goes towards prizes, 28p to good causes, 12p on tax, 5p to the retailer and 5p to Camelot. Of this, Camelot makes 1p profit. Last year Camelot - in which GTech has a 22.5 per cent stake - made pre-tax profits of pounds 70.8m and a net-profit of pounds 46.8. It is estimated that over the seven years for which Camelot has the contract to run the lottery it could make pounds 350m-pounds 400m profit.

GTech not only profits from its stake in Camelot. It also supplies the lottery machinery to retailers, and initially it supplied some equipment to ICL, another member of the Consortium. As chairman of GTech and one of its largest shareholders, Mr Snowden last year earned pounds 3m, a figure which rose from pounds 1.2m in 1993.

No mention was ever made of the size of any hypothetical bribe but Mr Branson believed it would be tens of millions. The amount was irrelevant, Mr Branson said. He was disappointed that anyone would even consider trying to bribe him.

Indeed Mr Branson's integrity was at the heart of his defence, as his counsel George Carman, cast him as the irreproachable British businessman and public figure known for his good works against the profit-orientated New York gambler. During the trial, Mr Snowden's QC, Richard Ferguson, chastised Mr Carman for portraying his man as a cigar-smoking, spat-wearing American with an office in Las Vegas.

But Mr Carman had tapped a profitable vein. This trial, especially in visual terms was as much a clash of cultures as a clash of individuals. The jury saw a slim, tanned, casually dressed Richard Branson - a familiar and famous face - pitted against the unknown corpulent American, looking uncomfortable in a tight suit, his large hands constantly fiddling with a ballpoint pen.

But while defeat for Mr Branson would have badly damaged his reputation, it has done the same for Mr Snowden, the son of a bulldozer driver with more than 25 years' experience of running lotteries. He admitted during the trial that if the jury found against him, his position would be untenable.

Mr Snowden's case was certainly not helped by the revelation that in the US GTech had been the subject of six different investigations by the FBI. A BBC Panorama programme broadcast in December 1995 claimed that Clayton Jackson, a lobbyist working for the company, had made payments to Senator Alan Robins to ensure GTech won the contract for the California lottery. Robins was later sent to prison. It also gave details of unusual payments relating to lotteries in other states including Kentucky and New Jersey.

It was on this programme that Mr Branson alleged that Mr Snowden had tried to bribe him. Mr Snowden declined to appear but issued a statement saying the allegation was "grossly defamatory".

After the programme, GTech again challenged Mr Branson, saying his allegations were defamatory. Mr Branson sued GTech, Mr Snowden and the company's PR director Robert Rendine on the basis that they were saying he was lying. They in turn sued him over the original allegations, but, perhaps pointedly, did not sue the BBC or Panorama.