Costs — indemnity costs — increased costs — District Court Rules 2014, r 14. The defendants had argued at trial that there was a concluded agreement for the sale and purchase of the plaintiff's property, which the court had rejected. The court had also rejected an argument that a set of the defendants initials was not theirs. The defendant had alleged that another party had placed those initials there. As a result of the defendant's pursuing a defence of fraud which the court had rejected with little hesitation, the court found that the defendant had unnecessarily pursued an argument that wholly lacked merit. As a result of this finding, the court further found that the plaintiff's claim for increased costs was justified and followed the approach in "Holdfast" for increasing costs. The claim by the plaintiff for increased costs was allowed and the defendant was ordered to pay $31,372.50 plus disbursements. The claim by the first and second third parties' costs was also allowed and the defendant was ordered to pay increased costs in the sum of $48,327. Judgment Date: 6 March 2017.