A so-called "vulture fund" won a partial victory against the impoverished African country of Zambia yesterday, but the fund's manager was bluntly criticised by the court for being "deliberately evasive and even dishonest" in his evidence.

The British High Court ruled that Donegal International, a company based in the British Virgin Islands, had the right to receive some payments for Zambian sovereign debt that it bought at a heavy discount.