Property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten has so far failed to cough up the £500,000 of legal costs he was ordered to pay last month by a High Court judge who condemned him as a murderer.

Mr Justice Lightman heard that the legal costs order he set on December 19, which should have been paid within 14 days, was still outstanding.

Lawyers for Mr van Hoogstraten also told the judge that as far as they knew, he had not yet lodged notice of appeal against the "murder" ruling, despite vowing to challenge the decision.

The judge, who is preparing to try a £6 million-plus damages action brought against Mr van Hoogstraten by the family of the murder victim, said he would proceed on the basis there would be no appeal.

Because of Mr van Hoogstraten's failure to pay costs, the judge barred him from pursuing a claim that £1 million of his assets were seized unlawfully by sequestrators during earlier stages of the complex legal dispute until he pays up.

The judge said: "He is an extremely wealthy man and can pay this if he wishes to do so."

There was a "whole history" of Mr van Hoogstraten failing to pay costs, the judge said.

But it might well be that he would pay the outstanding £500,000 in order to be able to pursue his claim against the sequestrators.

Although the multi-millionaire was cleared in the criminal courts of killing business rival Mohammed Raja, on December 19 Mr Justice Lightman ruled Mr van Hoogstraten had recruited two "highly dangerous thugs" to murder Mr Raja in order to halt a civil action the victim was bringing against him.

He said: "Nothing less than murder would rid Mr van Hoogstraten of this thorn in his flesh.

"He ordered Mr Hoogstraten to pay £500,000 interim costs to the dead man's family within 14 days.

Mr Raja, 62, was suing Mr Hoogstraten over a business deal at the time of his death.

He was stabbed and shot after answering the doorbell at his home in Sutton, south London, on July 2, 1999.

Robert Knapp and David Croke - who were, according to Mr Justice Lightman's judgment, Mr van Hoogstraten's henchmen - are serving life for murder.

Mr van Hoogstraten, 60, was sentenced to ten years at the Old Bailey in 2002 for manslaughter but his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal.

The proceedings will resume later this month with a further procedural hearing, pending a full trial of the action.