The High Court has made orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 covering two properties in Garryowen, cash seized from one of them and a Volkswagen Passat, after finding a prima facie basis that the assets were derived from drug dealing or acquired with its proceeds.
In a judgment delivered on 15 January 2025, Mr Justice Alexander Owens ordered that Cloughan Court, the Passat and cash seized at Singland Crescent in June 2019 and June 2021 be dealt with under section 3(1) of the Act. He said there was no basis to conclude that making those orders would create a serious risk of injustice.
The Bureau argued that the assets and renovation work were funded by drug dealing. The judge found that the reliable evidence established, on the balance of probabilities, that Dermot Calvert’s drug dealing funded renovations at Singland Crescent, the purchase and renovation of Cloughan Court, and repayments and savings in his credit union accounts. He assessed the likely cost of work at about €100,000 for Singland Crescent and its rear apartment, and about €25,000 for work at Cloughan Court.
The judge did not accept every part of the Bureau’s case. He said the Bureau had not established that the declared €17,250 purchase price for Singland Crescent was below market value or that an under-the-table payment had been made. He also found no evidence that Stacey Calvert’s later means-tested carer’s allowance funded the property renovations or car purchases. The Bureau’s case on social welfare overpayments did not establish that those payments funded the assets.
Stacey Calvert had contributed €14,000 towards Singland Crescent, which the Bureau accepted came from her personal injury award. The judge nevertheless concluded that the property’s refurbishment and the construction of an apartment behind the house were funded by her father’s proceeds of crime. He rejected her and the other respondents’ explanations for the assets and cash, including claims that the seized money came from compensation, savings or a camper van sale.
The Singland Crescent order includes two accommodations for Stacey Calvert: she may remain there with her children for seven years from the date of the order, and she has an equitable lien for 20% of the net proceeds when the property is eventually sold. The judge said the Bureau proposed the seven-year period and that the State would have to provide alternative accommodation when the property is sold. He also proposed no costs order against her.