Yorkshire chairman Lord Patel could face contempt of court charges

Yorkshire Chairman Lord Patel could face contempt of court charges after accusing a staff member of having a sexual relationship with the former county physiotherapist.

Lord Patel is accused of making the allegations in High Court documents, which the woman in question described as false and defamatory, and could also be reported to the House of Lords ethics committee.

The woman, a former Yorkshire executive, wrote to the club’s lawyers demanding an immediate retraction from Patel after discovering that he accused her of having a sexual relationship with former physiotherapist Wayne Morton while they both worked at Headlingley.

The latest development in Patel’s turbulent administration of Yorkshire comes in his defense against a claim for compensation from Morton High Court, who are suing the club for £569,000 after he was one of 16 people sacked for expressing their concern over his handling of the racism allegations by Azeem Rafiq. in December 2021.

In Yorkshire’s legal battle with Morton, they make a series of extraordinary allegations against the former England physio, including that he “engaged in unprotected sexual activity and had sex with a prostitute” in the changing room and had a “sex relationship with a senior employee at the club who disagreed with his professional position.’

Yorkshire Chairman Lord Patel could face contempt of court charges and a complaint to the House of Lords Commissioner of Standards after being accused of making false and defamatory allegations in High Court documents about a former executive of Yorkshire.

The latest development in Patel’s turbulent Yorkshire administration comes in his defense against a High Court compensation claim from former physiotherapist Wayne Morton.

The identity of the ‘main employee’ was not disclosed in the original High Court documents filed last September, but she has since been named in subsequent court filings.

Patel has backed up the allegations by signing a Statement of Truth, in which he also makes the extraordinary admission that while he has no evidence that the alleged sexual intercourse took place, he believes its source.

The ex-employee threatens to take further legal action and report Patel to the House of Lords Commissioner of Standards if he does not retract.

The law provides that those who ‘make a false statement in a document prepared or used in civil proceedings’ can be held in contempt of court ‘if such document is accompanied by a signed Statement of Truth’.

Yorkshire solicitors Howard Kennedy are understood to have received a letter of complaint nine days ago but have yet to reply.

The recently appointed co-chair of the club, Paralympic Grand Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, has also been informed.

Patel is due to step down as Yorkshire chairman next month after presiding over one of the most difficult terms in the county’s 160-year history, which has been marred by infighting amid fallout from Rafiq’s accusations of suffering racism in the club .

The 62-year-old Labor pair was parachuted into office by the ECB in November 2021 as Yorkshire was under pressure from politicians and losing patrons due to criticism over their handling of Rafiq’s complaints, but Patel has also faced strong criticism for his approach.

Morton is suing the club for £569,000 after he was one of 16 people sacked for raising concerns about his handling of racism allegations by Azeem Rafiq (above) in December 2021.

Within days of taking over, Patel agreed to pay Rafiq around £200,000 in compensation without asking him to sign a confidentiality agreement, but later admitted that he had not fully read the independent report into the former player’s complaints against the club.

The following month, Patel sacked the entire Yorkshire coaching and medical team on the grounds that some of them had raised concerns about Rafiq, leaving the club responsible for compensation payments of around £2 million.

To date, 11 former staff members have received bribes from Yorkshire after leaving the club in connection with the Rafiq affair, and the High Court will decide Morton’s claim on his behalf and five other members of the medical team. With the exception of Rafiq, all were forced to sign confidentiality agreements.

Yorkshire declined to comment when contacted by Sportsmail.