Convicted drug dealer John Gilligan has stood down his legal team and has chosen to represent himself for the rest of a High Court hearing into an application by CAB for a receiver to be appointed to properties owned by him and his family.
Today the court was told of Mr Gilligan's decision and Mr Justice Feeney took the necessary steps to enable the legal team to withdraw.
This afternoon, representing himself, Mr Gilligan asked the judge for permission to cross-examine a CAB officer who was giving evidence in the case.
Mr Justice Feeney said Mr Gilligan would be entitled to ask further questions of the officer tomorrow, if the matters were not addressed by his wife's legal team in the meantime.
Mr Gilligan also claimed that the hearing should not be taking place at all, because he maintained a Supreme Court stay is in place on another action his wife is taking, which would prevent the current action from proceeding.
Mr Justice Feeney said that was not his understanding of the situation, but asked that documents be produced tomorrow that would address the issue.
Counsel representing Geraldine Gilligan, the wife of John Gilligan, earlier accused a CAB officer of trespassing on and photographing her Co Kildare property last year.
The High Court is hearing evidence in an application by the Criminal Assets Bureau to have a receiver appointed to properties owned by John Gilligan, his wife Geraldine, son Darren and daughter Tracey.
The properties include the Jessbrook Equestrian Centre in Co Kildare.
The CAB officer questioned this afternoon told the court he had visited the Jessbrook premises last July after a tip-off from a former CAB officer that there were horses on the land, and a car had been seen leaving the premises.
He said he had taken photos of the property to protect himself from unfounded allegations that might follow that he had removed or damaged property, and to show if anyone was in control of the premises and the animals on the land.
But Paul Burns, SC for Mrs Gilligan, accused the officer of taking the photos in order to create a record of the state of the premises for the CAB's application to have it transferred to a receiver.
Mr Burns asked the officer why the photos were not subsequently used in the CAB application made last year.
The officer replied that he had gone on holidays around the time the application was made.
The officer also told the court that he had visited the property on 6 December last year, while returning from Longford.
He said he had heard from other CAB officers who had visited the premises in August that the place had been 'cleaned up', and this is what he found when he visited it also.
He said he did not enter the property, and all the photos were taken from outside, because he was aware of the upcoming receivership application.
Receiver sought
Opening the case on behalf of the CAB this morning, Michael McDowell SC said his client was seeking to have a receiver appointed to manage and receive rents in relation to the Jessbrook Equestrian Centre at Enfield in Co Kildare, because all the property is uninsured and at risk of destruction by accident or otherwise.
He also told the court that there is no public liability or occupier liability insurance on any of the properties, which could have a dramatic effect on the value of the properties if someone were to be injured inside them.
He also informed the court that two of the properties are let to third parties.
This, he claimed, is a dealing contrary to Section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, under which the assets were frozen in 1996.
Mr McDowell also argued that since the order was first served, the law on tenancy has dramatically changed, making it a lot harder for landlords to evict tenants.
Finally, Mr McDowell argued all of the values of the properties are at risk due to a lack of maintenance, and the current drop in values on the property market.
The court then began hearing evidence in relation to each of the properties.
It heard that it will be argued Mrs Gilligan is now habitually resident in Spain, and that Jessbrook is unused, uninsured and deteriorating.
Another property owned by John and Tracey Gilligan, which is being 'house-sat', was described as generally overgrown and unkempt.
John Gilligan is currently serving a 20-year sentence for possession of 20,000kg of cannabis.
