An upmarket publican who lost everything after he was wrongly imprisoned alongside murderers over a 'vendetta' with his local council which destroyed his life is to be paid millions of pounds in damages.
Geoffrey Monks, 67, who ran The Snooty Fox in Kettering, Northamptonshire, was accused of breaking food safety laws when East Northamptonshire Council falsely claimed they found 'mouldy ham' inside the premises in the late 1990s.
During his High Court action Dr Monks described local solicitor Jenny Lawrence as a 'sexual partner' of former Northamptonshire Council chief executive Roger Heath, after she she was reportedly furious over being served the 'wrong bottle of wine'. Both Heath and Lawrence strongly denied these claims when speaking to MailOnline.
A furious Ms Lawrence then complained that she had suffered food poisoning from eating pâté at the upmarket pub, with the ENDC launching an investigation into alleged malpractice at the Snooty Fox.
But instead of letting environmental officers handle the fallout of these hygiene 'breaches', which were later quashed on appeal, Chief Executive Mr Heath was said to have been handed responsibility for overseeing any final punishment in the case.
74-year-old Mr Heath, who would leave East Northamptonshire Council in early 2000s, now works as an independent consultant and most recently ran for political office as a Conservative council candidate in the Tomohun ward of Torquay.
Speaking to MailOnline on Friday, married Mr Heath said he was contacted by the council's solicitors in December 2020, telling them he had never had 'any relationship with Ms Lawrence', later claiming he 'had never even met her.'
After vehemently maintaining his innocence for more than two decades, Dr Monks has now agreed a seven-figure settlement figure after launching a High Court battle against the council in 2019.
Dr Monks had claimed £14million in lost earnings, but the council reportedly agreed to hand over a fee of around £4million earlier this year. His case marks just the third time in history that an applicant has successfully claimed 'abuse of process', the last such example being in 1861.
But further headaches may lie in wait for Northamptonshire Council - as Northamptonshire police force confirmed it will investigate any potential criminal charges that derived from the case.
Former Northamptonshire chief executive Roger Heath, 74, (pictured in 2019), was said to be in a 'sexual relationship' with solicitor Jenny Lawrence in the late 1990s and was accused of harbouring a 'vendetta' by upmarket publican Geoff Monks
Publican Geoffrey Monks, 67, has agreed a seven-figure settlement figure, believed to be in the region of £14m, with East Northamptonshire Council after launching a High Court battle in 2019 over his wrongful conviction and loss of earnings
Monks who ran The Snooty Fox in Kettering, Northamptonshire (pictured), was wrongly jailed after East Northamptonshire Council claimed to have found 'mouldy ham' inside the premises in 1999
Roger Heath most recently ran for political office as a Conservative council candidate in the Tomohun ward of Torquay. He received 561 votes, but was not elected during the 2019 elections
Dr Monks' ordeal began in 1998 when he barred solicitor Jenny Lawrence from the Snooty Fox after she was reportedly furious over being served the 'wrong bottle of wine'.
Ms Lawrence complained that she had suffered food poisoning at the upmarket pub, with the ENDC launching an investigation into 'mouldy ham' at the Snooty Fox. The council did not deny this claim.
Following six alleged infractions, Dr Monks was hit with the-then largest fine on record for breaching food safety offences - £25,500 plus his legal costs of £8,300, which were later reduced to £20,000 on appeal.
The pub boss could not afford to pay the fees after losing his businesses and his home, and in 2003 was imprisoned at the maximum security HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes - with his cell adjacent to Soham murderer Ian Huntley.
Roger Heath, then-Chief Executive of ENDC, was invited to oversee punishment by the council's environment department, and it was claimed in court that the local authority had pursued a 'vendetta' against Dr Monks.
