A company linked to Tory peer Baroness Michelle Mone breached a government contract of nearly £122m to supply surgical gowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, the High Court has ruled.
The £121.9m sum must now be repaid by the company, PPE Medpro.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) brought the case, saying it provided 25 million “faulty”, non-sterile gowns.
On Wednesday, the High Court said the gowns did not comply with the requirement of having a validated process to demonstrate sterility, and it was not possible for the DHSC to have sold them and recouped the loss.
The company, a consortium led by Lady Mone’s husband, businessman Doug Barrowman, was awarded the government contract after she recommended it to ministers.
Both Lady Mone and Mr Barrowman denied wrongdoing, and neither gave evidence at the trial in June.
She had initially denied involvement in the company or the process through which it was handed the government contract.
However, it was later revealed that Baroness Mone was the “source of referral” for the firm getting a place on the so-called “VIP lane” for offers of personal protective equipment for the NHS.
Yesterday, Lady Mone accused the government of making her and her husband a “poster couple for the PPE scandal”, in a lengthy online tirade.
Legal representatives for DHSC said the case against PPE Medpro was “simply about compliance” and that it was “not concerned with any profits made by anybody”.
As well as wanting to recover the costs of the deal, the government wanted to recoup the costs of transporting and storing the items, which amount to an additional £8.6m, though the High Court denied the latter request.
Ahead of the ruling, PPE Medpro filed a “notice of appointment to appoint an administrator” on Tuesday.
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