| James Roscoe (Bolton) Ltd v Winder | |
| Court: | High Court |
| Citations: | [1915] 1 Ch 62 |
| Judges: | Sargant |
| Keywords: | Tracing |
James Roscoe (Bolton) Ltd v Winder [1915] 1 Ch 62 is an English trusts law case, concerning asset tracing.
Mr Winder was the trustee in bankruptcy for Mr William Wigham, who had bought James Roscoe Ltd in March 1913. Mr Wigham had agreed to give the book debts that were received up to a certain date to the sellers. He collected £455 but kept them in his account, so breaching his agreement and fiduciary duty to the company. He spent all but £25, but put in his own money so the balance on his death was £358. James Roscoe Ltd sued to recover all the money in the account, asking to trace the £358. Mr Winder argued the maximum must be only £25, because that was the lowest intermediate balance. Necessarily the other money had been dissipated, and the surplus cash would need to go to pay other creditors.
Sargant J held the company could only trace £25, not £358. Once the money was spent, it was gone, down to the lowest bank balance in the interim. The debtor would have needed to substitute money from others for the purpose of using it for the claimant in order to get a trust impressed again.