The Manchester High Court case to decide by law who owns the rights to Bongo’s Bingo and who created it in the first place has finally reached its conclusion.
After a process lasting close to a year and an 8-day trial, the Judge ruled conclusively that Jonny Lacey and Joshua Burke own the concept, started the concept and are the creative force behind the concept, stating that this was “…overwhelmingly clear.”
The Judge ruled that Camp and Furnace, who sought to assert it was they who owned it, created it and were the creative force, lost every single part of the case.
Whilst for a great many casual observers the issue of Jonny and Josh’s ownership was never in doubt, the two friends still had to go to court to prove this to the Judge, take the stand and be cross-examined.
In his judgement, the Judge stated, when referring to claims as to who created Bongo’s Bingo and developed it, that he was satisfied that he (Jonny) gave an honest and reliable account” and Josh gave evidence that was, “generally reliable.”
However, he was less complimentary about the witnesses that Camp and Furnace put forward to support their claims. Paul Speed was described as “an unimpressive witness who sought to make extravagant allegations about C7F’s role in the creation of Bongo’s Bingo which he was wholly unable to substantiate in cross examination,” whilst his brother, Tim Speed, was said to have “provided me (the Judge) with very limited assistance in relation to the critical issues in the case.” One witness was even said to have, “ propensity to make confident factual observations, without foundation in relation to matter of which he had no personal knowledge.”
Jonny and Josh say: “We are thrilled to have won this case unequivocally, with the Judge agreeing that, on the basis of the evidence presented, we are the founders of Bongo’s Bingo and we created it from the very start. Camp and Furnace played no part whatsoever in this process and was simply a venue which housed the show we created in Liverpool. We want to make it clear that the claims the directors from Camp and Furnace made during the case were all rejected by the judge after he considered the evidence. Every single one of their claims were rejected and we won all counts of the case.
“That we had to go to Manchester High Court to prove what we already knew was a shame and a huge test of our resolve, but in the end it had to be done and in the end we believed by telling the truth we would win and that truth and justice would prevail.
“We want to say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported us through this very difficult and challenging process. To our partners, families and friends, through to all of our employees a Bongo’s Bingo, to all of the other venues, suppliers and businesses we work with on a daily basis – this was horribly tough and a big strain on our lives. We also want to say a massive thanks to the public who supported us too and believed us – not just everyone who has played Bongo’s Bingo, but it felt to us like a much wider range of support from around the world, the messages that came in, the conversations with strangers, the sense of being believed we both felt. We lastly want to say huge thanks to our legal team of Napthens Solicitors and Barristers Paul Chaisty QC and Andrew Grantham who took us step by step through this process with their diligence, professionalism and discretion. We thank everyone for helping us through this, for believing us and for never doubting us. This is for everyone who has helped make Bongo’s Bingo what it is – from all our staff, our venues, the cleaners, the security – and most especially to all our amazing customers. It’s not just us. But legally, it was us.
“We are also really sorry for the general staff left at Camp who are affected by this, some who we worked with for many years and who played no part in the case.”