The High Court declined to order Tom Kane Motors Ltd and Francis (otherwise Fran) McGuiness to recover two vehicles immediately for Setanta Vehicle Sales Ltd, saying the plaintiff could pursue damages at a plenary hearing. It granted an order restraining dealings with the vehicles and directed McGuiness to disclose specified records and communications.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 6 June 2019, Mr Justice Tony O’Connor said the plaintiff’s ownership of vehicles identified by chassis numbers VF630S160HD001965 and VF630S160JD002698 was not contradicted by the defendants. Tom Kane Motors Ltd was not taking part in the proceedings and did not resist the application.
Setanta sought interlocutory relief, including an order requiring the defendants to deliver up or procure the return of the vehicles. The court said the key dispute concerned undertakings recorded in an earlier order by Mr Justice Reynolds, and whether McGuiness had agreed to identify the vehicles’ locations and explain how they had been dealt with. O’Connor said the court would not determine at this stage whether McGuiness had breached those undertakings.
Setanta’s evidence included an affidavit from Andrew Freeney stating that McGuiness collected one vehicle from Setanta’s Longmile Road premises in August 2017, and that he collected the other in the Netherlands and brought it to Ireland. Freeney also said he saw the first vehicle at McGuiness’s yard in Cloughran in November 2018. McGuiness had sworn that he never had the vehicles and did not know their whereabouts. At the hearing, he said a person he nominated collected the first vehicle. He also said Kevin Donnelly, his friend and subcontractor, routinely stored vehicles for him in Newry, and consented to Donnelly releasing the vehicles to Setanta if Donnelly had them.
The judge said damages could be an adequate remedy and found no evidence that McGuiness could not pay a damages award. He also said ordering McGuiness to start proceedings in Newry to recover the vehicles could create a dilemma. The court did not decide the parties’ ultimate claims or McGuiness’s motives.
The order restrained the defendants, their servants or agents, and people acting in concert with them from parting with possession or control of either vehicle, transferring ownership interests, or selling, mortgaging, pledging or granting a lien over them. McGuiness was ordered to provide, verified under oath by 2pm on 13 June, copies of vehicle invoices and receipts, relevant VAT returns, and written or electronic communications with Donnelly from 1 May 2018 to 5 June 2019, insofar as in his possession or procurement.
The plaintiff was directed to deliver a statement of claim by 21 June. McGuiness and his legal representatives were given until 14 June to file affidavits addressing the disputed undertakings. The remaining interlocutory relief was to be heard in the week of 1 July 2019.