Assets Recovery Agency and in the matter of Walsh and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Coghlin J |
| Judgment Date | 01 April 2004 |
| Neutral Citation | [2004] NIQB 21 |
| Date | 01 April 2004 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Year | 2004 |
1
Neutral Citation No. [2004] NIQB 21 Ref:
COGF4120
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
01.04.2004
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
_________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
________
IN THE MATTER OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE ASSETS
RECOVERY AGENCY AND IN THE MATTER OF CECIL
STEPHEN WALSH AND IN THE MATTER OF THE PROCEEDS
OF CRIME ACT 2002
________
COGHLIN J
[1] This is an application by the Assets Recovery Agency
(hereinafter referred to as “the Agency”) for a recovery order in
accordance with Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
(“POCA”) under the terms of which the Agency seeks to vest
certain property held by or on behalf of Cecil Stephen Walsh (“the
respondent”) in the trustee for civil recovery. The application has
been made by the Director of the Agency (“the Director”) under the
provisions of Section 266 of the POCA.
The background facts
[2] The facts upon which the Director seeks to rely have been set
out in the affidavit sworn by John Davidson; a financial
investigator for the Agency authorised to exercise the powers
available to the Director under Parts 5, 6, 8 and 10 of the POCA.
[3] On 16 June 2003 the Assistant Chief Constable (Crime) for
the Police Service of Northern Ireland (“PSNI”) referred the matter
of certain property held by or on behalf of the respondent to the
Agency subsequent to the acquittal of the respondent of three
counts of obtaining services by deception contrary to Article 3(1) of
the Theft (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and one count of obtaining
property by deception contrary to Section 15(A) of the Theft Act
2
(Northern Ireland) 1969 at Belfast Crown Court on 13 June 2003.
The respondent was acquitted by direction of the learned trial
judge. On 3 October 2001 Kerr J, as he then was,had made a
restraint order against the respondent pursuant to Article 31(1) of
the Proceeds of Crime (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and,
subsequent to the said acquittal of the respondent this order was
discharged at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions for
Northern Ireland on 19 June 2003. Following the acquittal of the
respondent and the discharge of the said restraint order the Agency
applied for and obtained a Mareva Injunction against the
respondent on 27 June 2003.
[4] Since the age of 13 the respondent has accumulated a
substantial criminal record including 132 road traffic offences and a
significant number of offences involving dishonesty. He is
currently serving a sentence of six years imprisonment and
eighteen months custody probation which was imposed at Antrim
Crown Court on 9 April 2003 following his plea of guilty to the
charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery in relation to the
contents of Securicor cash transit vehicle in Coleraine on 9 August
2001. Further details of the respondent’s alleged criminal
behaviour appear in the affidavit sworn by Mr Davidson.
[5] Mr Davidson has also exhibited to his affidavit a bundle of
documents relating to the unsuccessful prosecution of the
respondent at Belfast Crown Court on 13 June 2002 in connection
with a mortgage application made by the respondent in the course
of his purchase of site 85 Mayfield Village, Glengormley on 3 July
2000, subsequently known as 8 Mayfield Village. Mr Davidson has
averred that the respondent placed approximately £70,250 in cash
at the disposal of his solicitor during the process of the purchase of
No. 8 Mayfield Village at a time when he had not been in receipt of
any identifiable form of State benefit or other legitimate income.
Indeed, it would appear from his criminal record, that the
respondent was in prison between 4 September 2000 and 30 April
2001. A financial enquiry initiated by PSNI was unable to establish
the identity of any bank or building society account held or
controlled by the respondent from which the said sum of £70,250 in
cash might have originated nor has any legitimate source of this
money been identified by the respondent in the affidavit sworn on
the 16th of September 2003 in response to the Mareva application.
During the course of the mortgage negotiations the respondent
represented himself to be a “self-employed car dealer” but the
PSNI was unable to establish the identity of any such business with
which the respondent had been involved or associated.
To continue reading
Request your trial
10 cases
-
R (Director of the Assets Recovery Agency) v Jia Jin He
...report. 49 In summarising them, I gratefully borrow from the decision of Coghlin J in The Director of the Assets Recovery Agency v Walsh [2004] NIQB 21. At paragraph 13 of his judgment in that case he says this: "The three principal criteria identified in Engel are: "(i) The manner in which......
- Scottish Ministers v Stirton
-
The Scottish Ministers V. George Mcguffie And Others For An Interim Adfministration Order In Terms Of The Proceeds Of Crime Act 2002 And For Warrant For Inhibition And Arrestme
...the First Respondent's rights under Article 7 of ECHR. Reference was made to the following authorities: Assets Recovery Agency v Walsh [2004] NIQB 21 (High Court of Justice, Northern Ireland, 1st April 2004); Walsh v Director of the Assets Recovery Agency [2005] NICA 6 (Northern Ireland Cou......
-
Scottish Ministers V. Linda Doig+steven Doig+david Dodds Cameron
...conclusion is supported by the decision of the Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland in Walsh v Director of the Assets Recovery Agency, [2004] NIQB 21 (High Court); [2005] NICA 6 (Court of Appeal). In that case proceedings for the recovery of assets were taken by the enforcement agency in Nor......
Request a trial to view additional results
3 books & journal articles
-
Using Civil Processes in Pursuit of Criminal Law Objectives: A Case Study of Non-Conviction-Based Asset Forfeiture
...where appropriate. For consideration of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture elsewhere, see, e.g., AssetsRecovery Agency v Walsh [2004] NIQB 21; Gale v Serious Organised Crime Agency [2011] UKSC 49; M v Italy,Application No. 12386/86, judgment of 15 April 1991; Raimondo v Italy (1994) 18 E......
-
Civil recovery proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The experience so far
...Northern Ireland LegalServices Commission on 22 December 2003 (2004) NIQB 70.30. Gilligan v. Criminal Assets Bureau (1998) 3 IR 185.31. (2004) NIQB 21.32. (1976) 1 EHRR 647.Civil 33. (2005) NICA 6.34. (2006) NICA 2.35. (2006) CSOH 34.36. (2004) EWHC 3021 (Admin).37. 70 DR 59 (1991).38. 5402......
-
The civil law: a potent crime-fighting device
...notes (www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/29/notes/contents).24. Unreported (March 23, 2001) (Ja.).25. [1998] 3 I.R. 185 (H.C.).26. (2004) NIQB 21.27. 91 F.3d 1204 (9th Cir. 1996).28. Section 55.29. Section 75.30. Sections 76-79.31. Section 77.The civil 32. Section 83.33. Brown v. Bennett [1......