The Criminal Assets Bureau secured a High Court order yesterday restraining Mr Abraham Turner and his father, Mr Barry Turner, from dealing with a house in Walkinstown, said to be worth £100,000 and featuring a jacuzzi, and with a burntout motor car. Mr Justice Shanley made the order following evidence from the CAB's chief bureau officer, Det Chief Supt Fachtna Murphy, that he believed the house at Cherry Grove, Walkinstown, and the Honda Civic car constituted the proceeds of crime and particularly the sale and supply of controlled drugs.
Chief Supt Murphy told the court a temporary restraint order was served on the Turners on May 13th and that the car went on fire at 3 a.m. on May 14th. He had an open mind on the incident but was awaiting the completion of an investigation.
Mr Justice Shanley said the court would be concerned if there was evidence of any direct link between the serving of the order and the fire.
????i established that fact, then the court should be told at the earliest opportunity.
The judge adjourned CAB applications to appoint a receiver to the Turners' property and for the Turners to swear affidavits on their means of livelihood. In an affidavit, a CAB officer (who cannot be named for legal reasons) said the house at Cherry Grove, believed to be worth over £100,000, was decorated to a very high standard, with a gymnasium and a jacuzzi. The officer said Mr Abraham Turner had three bank accounts in his own name. About £212,000 - mostly in cash - had been lodged between 1992 and 1997. About £83,000 was lodged over seven years in accounts in Mr Barry Turner's name.
Mr Shane Murphy, for the CAB, read an affidavit from Det Garda Thomas Madden of the National Drugs Squad, who said Mr Abraham Turner had never been in gainful employment during the six years he had known him. He had 13 previous criminal convictions. Between 1993 and 1996 he believed Mr Turner bought drugs in London and was given assistance by his mother's brother, Mr Seamus Dunne, who had been a major supplier of heroin into Ireland for over 20 years.
?????un Laoghaire with half a kilo of heroin valued at £200,000 taped to her back, Det Madden said. She had been accompanied by Abraham Turner who had no drugs in his possession. She was given a three-year prison sentence. In August 1996 Mr Abraham Turner was stopped in a car by gardai, Det Garda Madden said. His girlfriend, Ms Louise Byrne, threw a bag containing knotted packs of black powder to the ground. It was later found to be heroin. She received a six-year prison sentence. Det Garda Madden said he believed the drugs belonged to Abraham Turner.