Former iSoft directors face retrial

Three former executives of iSoft are to face a re-trail after a jury failed to agree on whether they conspired to defraud the stock market.

Stephen Graham, Timothy Whiston and John Whelan will be retried at Southwark Crown Court in April, after their first, four month trial ended without a verdict last month.

Patrick Cryne, a co-founder and former chief executive of the company, who was not part of the first trial for medical reasons, is tentatively listed as a defendant in the new trial.

A judge decided on Friday that a new trial should take place, although Mr Justice Leonard said: “I do appreciate that the strain is very considerable on the defendants.”

The four men face a single charge of conspiracy to make misleading statements, promises or forecasts, contrary to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and section 1 of the Criminal Law Act, which they deny.

The Financial Services Authority accuses them of misleading auditors and the market by trying to boost the company’s accounts in 2003 by booking revenue for a contract that was not signed until 2005.

At the time, the company was trying to take-over rival Torex and win business from the National Programme for IT in the NHS.

None of the four men have any connection with iSoft today. Since the events being considered by the trial, iSoft has been sold twice and is now part of CSC’s healthcare group.