Businessman Harold Darrell won?t be facing off with the Bank of Bermuda next month in a Supreme Court trial ? and he plans to pay off up to $900,000 in years? old bank debt within a fortnight.

Mr. Darrell, a former bank customer, launched a civil action against the bank five years ago. The matter was due to come before the court next month to decide whether he was the victim of a confidentiality breach.

Corey Butterfield, Mr. Darrell?s spokesman, said yesterday that Mr. Darrell decided to drop the civil action because a separate human rights hearing can serve as a single avenue of justice.

A three-person Tribunal is scheduled to resume hearing evidence in the human rights matter next May. The Tribunal first sat from September 21 to September 30 but the hearing was adjourned to mid-2006 because not all the evidence was presented in the eight days allotted.

Bank of Bermuda senior counsel Sonja Salmon told she learned from a newscast yesterday afternoon that Mr. Darrell was dropping his civil action. ?While we were surprised to learn of Mr. Darrell?s intentions, we note he plans to withdraw his civil action and plans to pay his longstanding loans.? The bank has not yet received a legal notice that the matter is to be dropped, but Ms Salmon said the bank ?looks forward? to getting this and the loan payment.

Mr. Darrell is waiting for confirmation from the bank on exactly how much he owes, according to Mr. Butterfield.

He expects to pay back between $700,000 and $900,000 in bank debt, plus legal costs associated with the bank?s preparation for the November case.

Mr. Butterfield yesterday said Mr. Darrell always acknowledged his debt. ?Mr. Darrell is quite happy to pay. He has always been in a position to pay,? but didn?t pay because he felt the bank should address the allegation of a breach before expecting the debt to be serviced.

Both Mr. Darrell?s human rights complaint and his civil action against the bank were launched in 2000. Each relates to Mr. Darrell?s allegation that a bank officer in 1996 leaked word of cash flow difficulties to a party he was negotiating to partner with in a cable television business.

The human rights complaint alleges former chief executive Henry Smith and 16 past and present bank directors did not properly investigate the alleged breach because Mr. Darrell is black.

The human rights Tribunal heard last month that Mr. Darrell, through the years, ran up a debt of some $700,000, and that he fell years behind in payments.

The civil action was to proceed five years after Mr. Darrell filed the suit. In 2000, the bank filed a counterclaim and asked for summary judgment. That was denied, paving the way for the case to come to court.