One aspect of the long-standing legal dispute between the Bank of Bermuda and Harold Darrell ended yesterday.

A spokeswoman announced the Bank had discontinued its counterclaim in the civil action brought by Mr. Darrell.

The dispute between the Bank and Mr. Darrell stemmed from a lawsuit Mr. Darrell filed in 2000 where he alleged he was the victim of a confidentiality breach by a Bank of Bermuda officer which hindered his business. However, he abandoned this claim in 2005 and admitted to owing the Bank at least $640,000 in unpaid loans.

At the time Chief Justice Richard Ground decided Mr. Darrell owed the Bank a total of $1.55 million. Mr. Darrell launched an appeal, arguing that the Chief Justice entered the judgment for too much money in 2005.

He won the appeal in March this year and told the courts he had already paid the Bank $644,000.

The case was slated to go back to Supreme Court to decide exactly what Mr. Darrell owes the Bank.

Yesterday the Bank said it had discontinued its counterclaim in the civil action brought by Mr. Darrell because it has received $640,000 from Mr. Darrell with another $270,000 to be collected in costs against Mr. Darrell for bringing and then abandoning his action.

A Bank spokesperson said: "We are pleased that Mr. Darrell has accepted that he owed the Bank at least $640,000 in outstanding loans. Having received this payment we look forward to putting this long standing matter behind us."

Last night, Mr. Darrell reacted coolly to the Bank's statement. "They are accepting about $900,000 less than what they claimed I owed them they only had a few days left to prove that claim and they couldn't do it," he said. "And they are trying to make out that they're doing me a favour."

Mr. Darrell said he was considering suing the Bank for pursuing its claim that he owed it $1.55 million.

"If you can't afford justice, then you don't get justice and I've only been able to do this because I've been able to afford it," Mr. Darrell said.

"I don't care what it costs, I will see this to the end. They will never, ever do this to another Bermudian."

Mr. Darrell's lawyer Richard Horsfield said:"Mr. Darrell has always admitted that he owed the bank in the region of $640,000 and this matter could have been dismissed long ago if that figure was agreed upon. It took us all the way to the Court of Appeal to appeal the unfair amount first decided on by the Chief Justice.

"We are certainly pleased that the Bank has taken leave to dismiss their suit and pay Mr. Darrell's legal costs."

The civil action which ended yesterday was a separate matter from the human rights complaint he issued against the Bank and its former chief executive officer in 2000. In that matter, Mr. Darrell alleged he was racially discriminated against by Bank directors because they did not personally address his confidentiality breach allegation.

A tribunal was held but dismissed Mr. Darrell's claim against the former chief executive officer and Board of Directors of the Bank of Bermuda in 2006.Mr. Darrell, also known as "Son of the Soil", shot to fame prior to the 2007 election after leaking to the media portions of a Police dossier centring on allegations of corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation.