By Tom Arden
The Court of Appeal has refused Stacey Calvert extra time to appeal a High Court proceeds-of-crime order affecting her home at 26 Singland Crescent in Limerick.
Ms Justice Butler said the application was filed on March 4, 2026, more than a year after the normal deadline for an appeal had expired. Meenan and Burns JJ agreed with the decision delivered on July 6.
The Criminal Assets Bureau had obtained an order under section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996. The High Court found that although €14,000 of the property's original €17,250 purchase price came from a personal injury award received by Calvert, extensive refurbishment and construction of an adjoining granny flat had been funded from proceeds of her father Dermot Calvert's drug dealing.
The High Court valued the refurbishment works at €100,000 and the premises as a whole at €170,000. It made a section 3 order but allowed Calvert and her three children to remain there for seven years. It also declared that she held an equitable interest equal to 20% of the net proceeds of any eventual sale.
Dermot Calvert and Martina Harty had already appealed the same High Court judgment. Their appeal was dismissed in September 2025, although they had dropped their challenge concerning Singland Crescent.
Stacey Calvert argued that she had intended to appeal and blamed difficulties involving her former solicitor and obtaining the file. The Court of Appeal found the explanation neither credible nor coherent and said there was no evidence of urgency.
The court also found no arguable grounds of appeal. Several proposed grounds were abandoned or conceded to be unsustainable during the hearing, while others misunderstood the evidential scheme of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Butler J said the interests of justice did not justify extending time. Calvert can still ask the High Court to discharge the section 3 order and can oppose any later application by the Bureau for a final disposal order.