Santander UK PLC and [1] Thomas Anthony Carlin [2] Maxine Karon Hughes [1] A&L Goodbody Northern Ireland LLP [2] Tanya Surgeon [3] Keith Gibson [4] Santander UK PLC
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Mr Simpson KC sitting as HCJ |
| Judgment Date | 16 June 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] NICh 5 |
| Court | Chancery Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2023] NICh 5
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: SIM12189
ICOS No: 14/087124
22/085734
Delivered: 16/06/2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
CHANCERY DIVISION
___________
SANTANDER UK PLC
Plaintiff
-and-
[1] THOMAS ANTHONY CARLIN
[2] MAXINE KARON HUGHES
Defendants
___________
[1] THOMAS ANTHONY CARLIN
[2] MAXINE KARON HUGHES
Plaintiffs
-and-
[1] A&L GOODBODY NORTHERN IRELAND LLP
[2] TANYA SURGEON
[3] KEITH GIBSON
[4] SANTANDER UK PLC
Defendants
___________
Patrick Good KC with Keith Gibson (instructed by A&L Goodbody Solicitors) for the
Plaintiff in 14/087124
David Dunlop KC (instructed by A&L Goodbody) for the Defendants in 22/085734
Mr Carlin, Litigant in Person, in both actions
___________
SIMPSON J
Introduction
[1] Although there are various applications before the court, in some of which
Mr Carlin and Ms Hughes are defendants or appellants or plaintiffs, for the sake of
2
convenience I will refer to them in this judgment as “the defendants” — unless
referring specifically to one of them — and I will refer to Santander as “the plaintiff.”
[2] These matters have their genesis in 2008 when in order to purchase their
present home, the defendants executed an interest-only mortgage with Abbey
National Plc. Abbey National advanced the sum of £191,250 on foot of the
mortgage, and the defendants granted to Abbey National a first legal charge over the
property. The charge was registered at the Land Registry in October 2008. The
moneys advanced were used to discharge an existing charge on the property, to pay
another matter and to discharge some fees. In January 2010 Abbey National Plc
changed its name to Santander UK Plc.
[3] As long ago as October 2011 the defendants first missed the mortgage
repayments, and have made no repayments since October 2013. There is some
£113,000 outstanding by way of arrears. In April 2012 the plaintiff commenced
possession proceedings pursuant to Order 88 seeking an order for possession of the
property and the Chancery Master granted an order for possession.
[4] The various matters before me represent the latest in a long rearguard action
fought by the defendants, and marshalled mainly by the first defendant, to prevent
the plaintiff from repossessing the premises with a view to realising its security.
[5] The defendants won the first skirmish when, in September 2013, Deeny J
struck out an order for possession granted by the Master on the basis that the
affidavit filed by the plaintiff and grounding the application for possession pursuant
to Order 88 of the Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) 1980 failed to
disclose that the plaintiff had securitised the debt — see Santander (UK) Plc v Carlin
& Anor [2013] NICh 14. In August 2014 the plaintiff issued fresh proceedings under
Order 88.
[6] The defendants lost the second skirmish when, by order dated 12 January
2016, Gillen LJ dismissed their application, under Order 18 Rule 19, to strike out the
plaintiff’s second set of possession proceedings and their further application to
permit a counterclaim — see GIL9845, delivered 12 January 2016. Mr Carlin’s
behaviour on the occasion when Gillen LJ gave his judgment led to his being
sentenced to imprisonment for three months for contempt of court — see Re Carlin
[2016] NIQB 17.
[7] The defendants lost the third skirmish when, in November 2019, Huddleston
J dismissed the defendants’ application to strike out the plaintiff’s proceedings for
“failure to comply with the discovery process as required by Order 24 rule 19(1) of
the Rules of the Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1980”, and dismissed an
application by the defendants to vary an order for discovery which had been made
by Master Hardstaff on 21 February 2019. This decision was not the subject of an
appeal.
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