The High Court has refused to make restriction orders against television personality Eddie Hobbs and two other directors of companies in the collapsed Taylor group of finance companies after finding all three had acted responsibly in relation to the affairs of the companies.

In his decision yesterday, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy noted that financial information about the companies was controlled by the founder of the Taylor companies, Tony Taylor, and was "blocked" from Mr Hobbs, Tom Carroll, The Avenue, Rockfield, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork, and Tom Gerard Lynch, Lower Woodhill, Tivoli, Cork, who were unaware of the serious problems of fraud and misappropriation of clients' monies.

He also remarked that there was "a paucity of information" before the court as to how inter-company loans were made between companies in the group.

He was giving judgment on proceedings brought by Paddy McSwiney, the liquidator of the Taylor companies, arising from the collapse of the Taylor companies in 1996. Mr McSwiney said he believed some £1.73 million went missing in client funds, which monies have never been recovered. Many of the investors were naive and vulnerable people, he added.

The proceedings, under Section 150 of the Companies Act, were begun by the liquidator against Tony Taylor, his wife Catherine (Shirley) and the other three directors last July, following the conclusion of criminal proceedings against Mr Taylor.

The liquidator is obliged to make such an application, which is procedural, even if he believes some directors acted fairly and honestly. Mr McSwiney said he has no evidence that Mr Hobbs, Mr Carroll, Mr Lynch and Ms Taylor had acted other than honestly and responsibly and also said he accepted that the person principally responsible for the state of affairs of the Taylor companies "was undoubtedly Mr Taylor".

He believed the decision not to keep proper books and records of the companies was taken primarily by Mr Taylor, Mr McSwiney added. The absence of records had made it very difficult to establish certain matters, including the roles of directors. Mr McSwiney said he was satisfied from his inquiries that the missing monies related to files under the control of Mr Taylor.

All the parties are separately represented in the proceedings and the judge yesterday dealt with the proceedings relating to Mr Hobbs, Mr Carroll and Mr Lynch. He will tomorrow deal with the applications relating to Mr and Ms Taylor.

In separate affidavits yesterday, Mr Hobbs, Mr Carroll and Mr Lynch argued there was no basis for the making of Section 150 orders against them. They stated that Mr Taylor had maintained control over financial information relating to the Taylor companies and withheld this information from them.

The three men also stated that, when the companies were established in the early 1990s, Mr Taylor had a considerable reputation in the financial world, being president of the Irish Brokers Association for a time and a member of a government-appointed body advising the government on implementation of the Investment Intermediaries Directive.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Murphy said it was clear that a year after he became a director of Taylor Integrated Planning Services Ltd (TIPS) in November 1991, Mr Hobbs was beginning to show some concerns which he communicated to Mr Taylor, whose replies were less than satisfactory in relation to a director's right to have access to financial information.

It was also of concern that an accounts manager appeared to have been instructed by Mr Taylor not to give financial information to directors without the prior permission of Mr Taylor.

It was clear that from October 1995 that Mr Hobbs could get no satisfaction in relation to his concerns from Mr Taylor, the companies' auditor or the financial controller and he had resigned in April 1996.

The court had some concerns about this six month period, but it was clear Mr Hobbs had "not stood idly by" and was considering his position in light of the fact he was a full-time employee, the judge said.

Mr Hobbs had visited some clients after Mr Taylor absconded and had tried to address matters affecting them. He had also met with the Irish Brokers Association. The court was satisfied Mr Hobbs had dealt with the matter in an efficient and determined way, he said.

The judge also found Mr Carroll had discharged his responsibilities as a director in difficult circumstances.

As with Mr Hobbs and Mr Lynch, the judge said he would exonerate him from any criticism whatever.