A second person is to stand trial on insider dealing charges relating to the 1997 takeover of Belgo Group, the restaurant chain.

Euan Carlisle, described by his lawyer as a “professional trader”, is accused of using information that he knew was sensitive to buy shares in the run up to the £9.8 million Belgo deal.

Mr Carlisle, who is accused of eight counts of insider dealing, is alleged to have acted on inside information he received from Timothy Power, a former senior executive at Belgo.

Mr Power, Belgo’s operations director in the late 1990s, is awaiting trial on similar charges.

Today District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe, sitting at City of Westminster Magistrates Court, told Mr Carlisle she was satisfied that there was enough evidence against him for his case to be tried before a jury.

Mr Carlisle is accused of using inside information to buy shares in Lonsdale Holdings, a cash shell that bought Belgo in a reverse takeover. Shares in Lonsdale rose after the Belgo deal was made public.

Judge Roscoe said the “coincidence of timing…size of investment, and [existence of] something communicated between friends”, meant Mr Carlisle’s case should be tried.

The Department for Business and Regulatory Reform (BERR), which is prosecuting both Mr Carlisle and Mr Power, said it intends for the two to be tried as co-defendants at the same trial.

Mr Carlisle, who was present in court, declined to comment through his lawyers. He remains free on unconditional bail.

The BERR is bringing the case because its precursor, the Department for Trade and Industry, was responsible for insider dealing prosecutions until they were taken over by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in 2001.

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