EMBATTLED DEVELOPER Bernard McNamara has secured some breathing space in his fight against bankruptcy.

The former billionaire has had freezing orders totalling nearly €400,000 lifted from his Costa del Sol homes after winning an appeal over a dispute with a Spanish interior designer.

A judge has ordered a retrial of a case Mr McNamara lost two years ago because a technical fault meant the original hearing was never recorded. The retrial is set for December in Marbella.

Its outcome will determine whether Mr McNamara’s properties in the upmarket resort are embargoed again, or he is left with the option of keeping the cash from any eventual sale.

The developer, who has admitted having debts of around €1.5 billion, is currently fighting a bankruptcy petition against him in Ireland.

His legal problems in Spain relate to a 2005 dispute over payment for work on a property called the Villa Magna near the five-star Marbella hotel Puente Romano. The Clare builder sued interior design firm Marbetexsa, claiming it owed him €232,000 after he made an additional payment to them in error. Marbetexsa counter-sued, claiming he owed it an additional €298,000 on top of the €298,000 he had already paid.

The judge ruled in favour of Marbetexsa, ordering Mr McNamara to pay the €298,000 as well as court costs in September 2008.

A higher court has now revoked the sentence after appeals from Mr McNamara’s legal team about the quality of the audio-visual recording of the original trial.