Solad Sakander Mohammed & Ors v Sabir Ahmed Ebrahim Daji & Ors

Charitable contributions must be applied in accordance with the contributors’ objectively ascertained intention. Where money is entrusted to individuals or a committee for indefinite charitable purposes, they may have implied authority to declare the formal trusts, provided that the declaration remains within the contributors’ general objects.

That intention is determined from the terms on which contributions were sought and made, viewed in their factual context. Labels on receipts or dealings with third parties do not conclusively establish the intended trust.

An appellate court will not disturb primary findings of fact merely because it might have reached a different view. It may intervene only where the trial judge’s decision is unsupported by the evidence or cannot reasonably be explained or justified.

Abbey Mills was acquired in 1996 with funds raised, principally through loans, from the London Tablighi Jamaat community for a mosque and community centre. The appellants contended that the property was held on the trusts of the Dewsbury Trust. The respondents contended that it was held on separate London trusts.

His Honour Judge Cadwallader, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, held that the contributors intended a separate London trust and that Abbey Mills was held on the trusts declared by the London Trust Deed: [2023] EWHC 2761 (Ch). The defendants appealed, challenging the judge’s treatment of receipts, evidence of representations to third parties, and findings about a November 1994 meeting.

The central issue was whether the funds and Abbey Mills were intended for the Dewsbury Trust or for trustees authorised to establish a separate London charitable trust.

1. Appeal dismissed. Newey LJ, with whom Arnold and Zacaroli LJJ agreed, held that the judge’s findings had an adequate evidential basis and could not properly be disturbed on appeal.

2. The court confirmed that a gift for indefinite charitable purposes may fall within the third class identified in Attorney-General v Mathieson, [1907] 2 Ch 383. Contributors who entrust money to an individual or committee may impliedly authorise them to declare the charity’s formal trusts. The question was therefore whether the contributors intended a gift to the Dewsbury Trust or authorised the London trustees to declare the trusts for Abbey Mills.

3. The contributors’ intention was to be ascertained objectively from the circumstances in which the money was solicited and paid. Since the relevant terms had not been reduced to writing, evidence of the participants’ understanding and subsequent conduct could assist. The receipts bearing the Dewsbury name were relevant but not conclusive. In their context, the judge was entitled to find that they were used for convenience and did not show an intention to contribute to the Dewsbury Trust.

4. The judge was entitled to rely on the November 1994 meeting. Its account was supported by the surrounding evidence, including the local fundraising, the instruction that the London community should stand on its own feet, concern over earlier diversion of London funds, and the appointment of separate London trustees. The identity of those trustees was important. The close similarity of the later London and Dewsbury trust deeds did not displace the finding that a separate London trust was intended.

5. The stringent appellate test in Henderson, [2014] UKSC 41, and Volpi, [2022] EWCA Civ 464, was not met. The judge had assessed the evidence as a whole, treated Mr Mohammed’s evidence with caution, and reached conclusions that were neither irrational nor unjustifiable. Abbey Mills accordingly remained held on the London Trust Deed’s trusts.

• Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Dismissed the defendants’ appeal and upheld the conclusion that Abbey Mills is held on the London Trust Deed’s trusts: [2024] EWCA Civ 1247.
• High Court of Justice, Chancery Division His Honour Judge Cadwallader held that the purchase funds were intended for a separate London trust and that Abbey Mills is held on the London Trust Deed’s trusts: [2023] EWHC 2761 (Ch).