Man takes 16-year PC World battle to Supreme Court in £250,000 row over laptop Richard Durkin, 44, bought a computer in Aberdeen's PC World in 1998 He paid £50 deposit and signed £1,449 credit agreement to pay for the rest Having discovered it wasn't what he asked for, he tried to return it to shop Then began lengthy dispute with computer store and credit firm HFC Bank Mr Durkin's fight will be decided finally at the Supreme Court on 28 January Richard Durkin, 44, who has been engaged in a 16-year legal battle with PC World and HFC Bank after he tried to return a laptop the day after he bought it, will have his case decided by the Supreme Court on 28 January A father-of-two whose attempt to buy a laptop from PC World sparked a 16-year legal battle costing £250,000 in legal fees is taking his case to the Supreme Court. Richard Durkin, 44, says if the court, which only hears cases 'of the greatest public or constitutional importance', decides against him, he will go bankrupt. But the offshore construction surveyor from Aberdeen, who says his credit rating was ruined after he disputed paying for a computer he didn't want, is determined to fight the corporate giants. 'It's too late for me to throw in the towel now, and besides, I'm a very determined chap' Mr Durkin said. 'I've spent so much on lawyers I'm bankrupt already - I might as well go bankrupt for doing the right thing.' His David and Goliath-style fight began in 1998 when he visited PC World in Aberdeen and asked for a laptop with a built-in modem. He says the sales assistant showed him a model which was in a sealed box and suggested he buy it, saying that if there was a problem he could bring it back and get his money back. Mr Durkin bought the computer, putting down a £50 deposit and signing a credit agreement with HFC Bank, a sub-division of HSBC which provided PC World's in-store finance, for £1,449 to cover the rest. But he found when he got home that the computer did not have a built-in modem, and so took it back to the store the next morning, where the duty manager refused to take the computer back, refund his £50 or cancel the credit agreement. It began a fight that would stretch over the next decade and a half. Mr Durkin, who lives in Aberdeen with his wife and two sons, aged six and three, left the computer at the shop and went to work offshore for a fortnight, returning home to discover the computer waiting for him. He took it back to the shop and sued PC World for his deposit. The company returned his £50 but did not admit liability, and HFC Bank said he still had to make his credit payments. Mr Durkin said he told the bank what had happened with PC World but was told that if he did not pay, he would be putting his future credit rating at risk. Mr Durkin's problems began when he visited a PC World store in Aberdeen in 1998 to buy a laptop (file image) The epic legal battle will be finally decided by five judges of the Supreme Court, pictured, on 28 January Subsequently the bank put black marks on his credit files with Experian and Equifax, which, over the next few years, Mr Durkin struggled - and failed - to have removed. He said when he tried to buy a home in Spain in 2003, these default notices meant he was unable to do so. 'Until you get a credit blacklisting you have no idea how much damage it can do - it has wrecked my life,' he told MailOnline. At first I thought I would just take it like a man, but a bad credit rating affects everything. I can't do anything.' Mr Durkin bought a small council house in Aberdeen in 1996 when he was in his twenties, with a view to buying a larger house once he married and had children. But he is still there because he cannot get a mortgage for a bigger one. 'People don't realise how much damage a default on your credit record does until they actually have one.' he said. I earn quite good money and have done for years, but I am stuck in my house and in so much debt because of the lawyers. 'It's too late to throw in the towel, and besides, I'm a very determined chap.' Richard Durkin In March 2008, a decade after he bought the laptop, Mr Durkin was awarded £116,000 damages by Aberdeen Sheriff Court, which ruled that he was entitled to return the computer and cancel the credit agreement. But two years later, the court of session in Edinburgh overturned the decision, saying that Mr Durkin was not entitled to cancel his credit agreement. The judges also argued that the Spanish property deal fell through because of high spending on Mr Durkin's credit card. With the help of a legal charity, Mr Durkin now has the support of a top lawyer, Andrew Smith QC, and is taking his fight to the Supreme Court on 28 January, where five judges will make a final decision over whether he was the victim of an injustice. Mr Durkin said: 'What makes me sick is that they've had millions of opportunities to do the right thing, and every time they have refused. 'It's no longer about the money for me; it's the principle. Why should these companies and banks be allowed to get away with treating consumers like this? It sickens me. I just can't let them win.' Neither PC World's parent firm, Dixons Retail, nor HFC parent company, HSBC, would comment on the case today.