LONDON (AP) — A British High Court judge ruled Wednesday that a company linked to an underwear tycoon must repay the government more than 121 million pounds ($163 million) for breaching a contract to supply 25 million surgical gowns during the coronavirus pandemic. The judge said “the gowns could not be used as sterile gowns.”FILE - Michelle Mone poses for a picture on June 28, 2014. The consortium was awarded the lucrative contracts by the former Conservative administration to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic, after Mone had recommended it to ministers. The new Labour government, which came into power in July 2024, sued PPE Medpro over allegations that it breached a deal for the gowns as the items were “faulty” by not being sterile. She has taken a leave of absence from Parliament to “clear her name” over the scandal.