Mansfield compo case set for court

Businessman Nigel Mansfield is now facing a Supreme Court trial in his 12-year, multimillion-dollar battle against the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr Mansfield, a former business partner of John Kizon, is seeking millions in costs and compensation after claiming he was financially ruined by a freezing order placed on all his assets in 2002.

The State's DPP used WA's criminal property confiscation laws to freeze Mr Mansfield's assets during an Australian Crime Commission investigation, codenamed Barrator, aimed at Mr Kizon.

And now, despite the DPP at one point accepting it would have to pay Mr Mansfield up to $6 million, a trial to battle out the matter is set for June next year.

The legal battle will centre on Mr Mansfield's share trading at the time his assets were frozen - which he claims could have earned him tens of millions dollars if it had been able to continue.

Lawyers for the DPP yesterday revealed to Supreme Court judge Kenneth Martin that they had been given a detailed breakdown by Mr Mansfield of his use of trading software called Metastock, and the algorithms he claims would have made him a fortune.

Experts employed by the DPP will now have to pore over spreadsheets charting 12 years of hypothetical trades, with a potential trial date of March pushed out to June.

Mr Mansfield's lawyer Colin Chenu reiterated that Mr Mansfield had been financially ruined by the freezing of his assets, which also enveloped properties owned by his wife.

And Mr Chenu said Mr Mansfield would also take issue with the way the DPP had conducted its case.

Further hearings were ordered to take place next month, while the prospect of potential mediation before a trial was not ruled out.

This year Mr Mansfield and Mr Kizon beat prosecutors for the second time in four years, when a District Court jury acquitted them of conspiracy and insider trading charges related to internet pornography company AdultShop.com.

The High Court had ordered the retrial of charges thrown out four years ago by District Court judge John Wisbey.