The High Court granted interlocutory orders sought by the official assignee in bankruptcy concerning three folios of land, after finding that John Gaynor had not produced evidence of a right to interfere with them.
Mr Justice Allen gave the ex tempore judgment on 15 October 2021, following a motion by Michael Ian Larkin, then official assignee. The lands comprise just under 58 hectares. The judgment identifies the folios as 10753, 2538 and 7609, County Meath, and says they were registered to Christopher Lehane in his capacity as official assignee in December 2017. Larkin was the official assignee by the time of the motion.
The court heard uncontradicted evidence that the official assignee had agreed sales of the lands: one contract for Folio 2538 and another for Folios 10753 and 7609. The judgment records allegations that Gaynor put up signs suggesting the lands were not for sale, interfered with their sale advertisement, made claims concerning the lands and placed cattle on them, preventing vacant possession. There was no dispute on the motion that he had done these things.
The central question was whether Gaynor had put forward evidence of a right to do what would otherwise amount to trespass. The judge said that if he had not, the official assignee was entitled to the orders sought; only if such evidence had been produced would the court consider the balance of convenience and justice.
Gaynor had previously owned the lands but was adjudicated bankrupt in 2015. His applications to show cause and to appeal, and later applications for leave to appeal, had been dismissed or refused. The judge held that the adjudication was final and binding and that Gaynor could not use the motion to challenge it indirectly. The judgment also rejected his reliance on a possible interest claimed by his sister in Folio 2538, noting that he could not rely on another person’s claim. Her claim had previously been determined against her.
The court further recorded that Gaynor’s home was on a different folio, Folio 11874, Westmeath, rather than on the lands covered by the motion. The official assignee hoped that selling the lands at issue would allow the bankruptcy estate to close without selling that home; the judgment said whether that would be possible remained to be seen.
Allen J was satisfied Gaynor had not identified evidence of a right to interfere with the lands. He granted orders in the terms of paragraphs 1 to 5 of the notice of motion and awarded the plaintiff his costs in the bankruptcy. The judgment does not set out the specific terms of those five orders.