James Stunt’s former bodyguards have claimed he tried to pay them with a £10,000 cheque that bounced.
His former minders have turned on the gold bullion dealer ex-husband of Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone – who toured Mayfair with him in a cavalcade of Lamborghinis, Bentleys and Range Rovers – in a row over allegedly unpaid wages, MailOnline can reveal.
A bankruptcy court has heard claims Mr Stunt owes nearly £140,000 for the services of his former protection squad. Mr Stunt refutes the claims.
James Stunt’s former bodyguards from security firm Noble Protection Ltd (left circled) have claimed he tried to pay them with a £10,000 cheque that bounced in a row over unpaid wages
Mr Stunt’s former minders (not pictured) have turned on the gold bullion dealer ex-husband of Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone – who toured Mayfair with him in a cavalcade of Lamborghinis, Bentleys and Range Rovers – in a row over allegedly unpaid wages
He engaged security firm Noble Protection Ltd in May last year to supply a team of bodyguards, the High Court was told.
Barrister James Davies, appearing for the Kent-based firm owned by husband-and-wife Kevin and Julie Noble, said: ‘Mr Noble was informed that [Mr Stunt] would only pay using an American Express card.’
While an American Express facility was being set up, Mr Stunt allegedly made an initial payment with a cheque – which bounced.
Mr Davies told the court: ‘Whilst the account was being set up, a £10,000 cheque was issued which was returned due to insufficient funds.’ The cheque eventually cleared three weeks later.
The Nobles provided security guards to patrol Mr Stunt’s £11million Belgravia cottage and accompany him on trips out. The firm claims it received £48,000 but that a further £138,000 of its bills to Mr Stunt remain unpaid.
In January, the firm issued a ‘statutory demand’ via Westminster solicitors Buks asking for the money to be paid or for Mr Stunt, 37, to face the humiliation of being made bankrupt.
A spokesman for Mr Stunt said he ‘refutes the allegations’, adding: ‘We will not be making further comment on this matter.’
The millionaire’s barrister, Timothy Higginson, told the court his client disputed the ‘extent’ and ‘quality’ of the bodyguard services being billed for. He claimed the Nobles owed Mr Stunt £80,000 for a gambling debt, which Mr Noble disputes. The case was adjourned to June.
Stunt was married to Petra Ecclestone (pictured) before the couple – who have three young children together – divorced in London last year and she moved to the US with a new partner
Mr stunt engaged security firm Noble Protection Ltd in May last year to supply a team of bodyguards to protect his £11 million Belgravia home (pictured) the High Court was told
It is the latest in a string of similar cases facing Mr Stunt, who has three children with Miss Ecclestone who went through a bitter divorce with him in 2017.
He is being chased over a £1million debt with a City gambling firm, CMC Spreadbet, and has claimed he will find the cash by using Picasso and Monet paintings he has lent Prince Charles. He proposed borrowing £70million secured against a fine art collection he has loaned Charles’s stately home, Dumfries House.
His gold bullion firm Stunt & Co is facing insolvency over £89,000 allegedly owed to Formula 1 World Championship Ltd, a company formerly owned by Miss Ecclestone’s father Bernie. Mr Stunt recently staved off his company’s winding-up over another £19,000 debt by settling the bill – only to see it replaced by the £89,000 demand.
He is disputing the claims. He told the Mail that CMC’s £1million demand was ‘not a debt at all’ and was ‘in hand’, adding: ‘I will not be going bankrupt, I’ll say that now.’
Last month, the Mail revealed Mr Stunt has been hit by a ‘proceeds of crime’ order that freezes his assets including several homes and a fleet of supercars. A judge gave him a £1,000-a-week spending limit and banned him from drinking his own fine wines, although Mr Stunt is teetotal.
The order – obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service – described him as ‘the Alleged Offender’. Stunt has not been charged and it is not clear why the order was made. His assets were not seized, but their use was restricted and he must not dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of them.
Mr Stunt has often stoked controversy. During his £5billion divorce, he was claimed to have rubbed cocaine on his gums during a court hearing. On the same day in June 2017, it is also claimed he barged into his father-in-law, the ex-Formula 1 supremo, and made a gun gesture towards him in court. He made an obscene gesture at photographers outside the hearing.
Mr Stunt has ‘categorically denied’ these ‘completely ridiculous’ allegations.