Super Sonic scooter is one spice short.

Kingston Smith is defending the Spice Girls against a £1.6m claim for damages from Italian scooter manufacturer Aprilia, which claims a sponsorship deal worth £500,000 became a marketing flop when Geri Halliwell left the band. Aprilia claims the band knew at the time of the deal that Halliwell was going to leave, and therefore knew that the scooters bearing pictures of the group’s five members were obsolete. Emile Woolf, partner and head of Kingston Smith’s Litigation Support department, gave evidence on Friday and was at the High Court again on Monday. A spokesman said Woolf has been working on the case for a month. His contention in court was that the Spice Sonic scooter endorsement was not the central part of the deal between Aprilia and the Spice Girls but only a by-product. He contends there is no evidence that the manufacturer would have made as many bikes as it claims and that the unendorsed scooter, and the company, still benefited from its association with the band. Aprilia began the action only when the Spice Girls sued the Italian firm for £212,000 in unpaid royalty and sponsorship fees. Submissions closed on Monday.