A COMPANY chief paid a series of bribes to win a stake in the highly profitable cable communications industry, it was alleged yesterday.

The director was said to have been rewarded with cable-laying work worth £10 million from Bell Cablemedia (BCM) - described as "one of the big boys" in cable.

Cormac Byrne, 38, chairman of Cable Network Systems (CNS) is accused of paying more than £300,000 in bribes to BCM construction director Michael Simmons to secure contracts in Leeds, Harrogate and Dartford.

Cash was said to have gone through a Swiss bank account and helped pay for Simmons's luxury Spanish property worth more than £600,000.

Byrne, of Batchworth Hill, Rickmansworth, Herts, denies four corruption charges between 1995 and 1996.

The defendant was the "man in overall charge" of CNS, who took a detailed interest in the company's financial affairs.

London's Southwark Crown Court heard that there was no disputing that Simmons received the cash after it was first received in a Jersey account of Winnats Ltd. Byrne claims he authorised payments to Winnats as commission for new business - but had no idea the cash would benefit Simmons.

The jury was told BCM was the third largest cable operator in the country, holding franchises in Leeds, Harrogate, York and elsewhere.

Philip Mott QC, prosecuting, said Byrne had been described as a generous man; the jury must decide "whether that included Simmons".

Byrne ran a small building plant hire business in Enfield, North London, but changed its name to CNS and moved into cable.

In the nineties it was an industry of "rapid growth" and promised "huge potential profits".

"People were scrambling over each other to get into this new business, just like the Internet nowadays and dot com companies."

But initial overheads were high and there was a strain on CNS's cashflow. Its overdraft soared to £500,000 and Byrne drew no salary but only expenses.

Mr Mott continued: "In the middle of all this Byrne is asked to sign a series of documents to transfer over £300,000 to a bank account in Jersey, to an unknown company in the name of Winnats".

The prosecutor asked the jury if the chairman in authorising the payments "might just ask for a little explanation as to where the money was going."

He said the truth of the "masquerade" was that the cash was a bribe for Simmons.

"The sole issue is whether Byrne knew they were corrupt payments, whether they were bribes, whether they were backhanders," said Mr Mott.

The trial continues.