Two former executives of a spread-betting company have been adjudicated bankrupt at the High Court after a judge refused them permission to appeal her refusal to halt the proceedings against them.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said yesterday she was "gobsmacked" to be told that Brian O'Neill and Fergus Rice, formerly of Marketspreads, now SFS Markets Ltd, had not previously considered the possible outcome of their bid to block the bankruptcy.

SFS Markets had petitioned for the bankruptcy of Mr O’Neill, The Copse, Beresford, Drumcondra, Dublin, and Mr Rice, Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin, over their failure to pay some €1.2 million outstanding from the €1.68 million judgments obtained on consent against them by Marketspreads in March 2012, just weeks before the firm was suspended by the Central Bank.

Mr O’Neill was chief executive and Mr Rice was executive director of Marketspreads. Both resigned in July 2011 after investigations indicated some €1.4 million was owed to Marketspreads by Sports Spread Betting Ireland, of which Mr Rice was the majority shareholder and in which Mr O’Neill had an interest.

Marketspreads was suspended by the Central Bank on April 6th, 2012. After SFS sought their bankruptcy, both men issued proceedings against SFS for orders including one marking the judgments obtained against them as satisfied.

Both claimed they were assured that, if they sold their Marketspreads’ shareholdings for €400,000, as required for the company’s suspension to be lifted, they would not be pursued for the remaining €1.2 million.

Last week, Ms Justice Dunne refused to dismiss the bankruptcy summonses against them and adjourned the matter until yesterday when she was told by John Trainor SC, for the men, they had been “knocked back” by her judgment last week. They are still involved in Sports Spread Betting and are concerned about the effect of the judgment on that business.