judgment handed down against Focus Insurance Group boss, Mr. Mark Hardy.

The ruling comes less than 24 hours after Mr. Hardy, 43, was successful in halting an attempt by Focus liquidators to have him found in contempt of court for engaging in a letter campaign that attacked the reputation of the former Chief Justice, Sir James Astwood.

He is without the benefit of legal counsel, and has said he is unable to afford a lawyer since being declared bankrupt, with no access to income or assets. The absence of an attorney for Mr. Hardy caused procedural difficulties throughout this week's hearings for all of the participants.

Mr. Hardy, who once controlled a multi-million dollar insurance empire in Bermuda and the US, has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the liquidators that has stretched from the Supreme Court to the Privy Council in London, the highest court with jurisdiction over Bermuda.

His success in getting matters heard in higher courts may have been his undoing in yesterday's legal confrontation.

After arguments from the liquidators' attorney, Mr. Saul Froomkin, Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Meerabux, ruled that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.

Mr. Froomkin had argued that the matter was already before the Privy Council.

He said: "Mr. Hardy has been granted leave to appeal the very orders that are before this court. Once you've been granted leave, the Privy Council has jurisdiction.

"It's not as if he is without remedy. He applied to the appeals court and they turned him down. He went to the Privy Council and in the interest of giving him his day in court, the Privy Council has granted leave for him to appeal.'' Mr. Froomkin claimed that Hardy had -- possibly innocently -- misled the Privy Council. But he added that Mr. Hardy was aware of more of the facts now, and was deliberately misleading the Supreme Court. He referred to a belief that Mr. Hardy had asked the court in his application to address one issue, yet was arguing a case on another.

Mareva injunctions had been issued against Hardy in 1991, which in effect sought to freeze his worldwide assets, and restrain him or anyone acting on his behalf from touching his assets in any way.

But Mr. Froomkin said that Hardy ignored the order, forcing the liquidators to go back to court and have him cited for contempt of court.

A default judgement was issued in January 1993 against Hardy, when he failed to comply with disclosure requirements ordered by the court a month before.

The attorney said that even at the Privy Council hearing, Hardy was trying to argue against the Mareva injunctions, when it was the default judgement that was on the record as being before the court. He suggested that even the Privy Council Lords were left confused.

Hardy protested the characterisation, but Mr. Justice Meerabux, in giving his decision, said: "In my view, I don't think this court has jurisdiction, based on the fact that the matter is already being heard by a superior tribunal.

"In light of that, I will let the matter continue up there.'' Hardy had argued in vain that although leave had been granted by the Privy Council, they had not yet begun to hear the case, and therefore it could not be sub judice.

After three years of legal problems, Mr. Hardy says he intends to fight on.

He is fighting to have his bankruptcy overturned in the Colchester and Clacton County Court, where his bankruptcy trustee claims not to be affected by any decision of any court in Bermuda or in the UK.

Hardy has asked the court to insist that he rejects the Focus debt. It would mean that he owes money to no-one, and as a result would be able to apply to have the bankruptcy discharged.

He is also in the Court of Appeals in England seeking to have one of the default judgments struck down, in addition to waiting for the Privy Council case.

He said he was disappointed with the ruling, although quite pleased that in the first matter this week he had convinced the court to have the liquidators' withdraw their action and have the file turned over to the Attorney General's chambers.

"The whole thing has been a witch hunt from the start,'' he complained. When asked about income, he said: "I'm living off of the good grace and favour of friends. There's nothing that I can do for income. Mr. Froomkin was talking about me flying in for these cases, but the official receiver has told me that I can use my frequent flyer miles.''