A STATUTE enacted 363 years ago when Charles I was monarch of Ireland has been used to decide a dispute over the sale of a prime Dublin residence.
Judge Raymond Groarke held in Dublin Circuit Civil Court that Mr Patrick O'Sullivan, formerly of 136 Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin, had sold the three storey property to his son, Kevin, at half its value for the purpose of avoiding his creditors.
Judge Groarke accepted the submission of Mr Terry O'Sullivan, counsel for a heating installation firm, that under the 1634 Fraudulent Conveyancing Act the court need not find the sale was motivated by fraud so long as it was satisfied the outcome was to defeat creditors.
He heard that in February 1994 Mr O'Sullivan, now of Westbury Court, Nightingale Lane, London, sold No 186 to Kevin for £75,000 at a time when Judge Groarke held it to be worth at least £140,000. He also heard the property was currently on the market at a guide price of £260,000.
Judge Groarke said there was no dispute that Domestic Heating, Bridges Industrial Estate, Naas Road, Dublin, was owed mores than £7,000 for the installation of central heating in No 186.
He had to consider if Mr Patrick O'Sullivan, also formerly of Monavoth, Rathvilley, Co Carlow, had fraudulently sold the house.
The sale took place shortly after the start of proceedings by Domestic Heating against Mr Patrick O'Sullivan and coincidental with other High Court judgments. "I must conclude the sale was undoubtedly propelled by pending litigation," Judge Groarke said.
Judge Groarke said Domestic Heating was entitled to a declaration that the sale was fraudulent. But he felt the defendants might seek to avoid the consequences of such a judgment. When counsel for the defendants sought an adjournment for talks, Judge Groarke put the matter in for mention this morning.