High Court refuses bid by ex-dealership staff to halt trials

Two former car dealership employees lost their separate applications to prevent trials on multiple counts of alleged theft and forgery related to the onward sale of trade-in vehicles

High Court refuses bid by ex-dealership staff to halt trials

Two former employees of an unnamed car dealership have failed in their separate bids before the High Court to prevent their trials on multiple counts of theft, forgery, and using a false instrument. The alleged offences took place between 2014 and 2017 and relate mainly to the onward sale of vehicles traded in by customers, as noted by Mr Justice Garrett Simons.

The prosecution contends that, in certain instances, the trade-in was not recorded in the sales contract, and the vehicle was instead sold privately by the accused for personal profit.

The core argument in both applications was that prosecutorial delay had deprived the applicants of their entitlement to a fair trial. A key point of contention was the death of the dealership’s managing director, an intended prosecution witness, after criminal proceedings had begun. One applicant claimed the managing director “signed off on everything,” while the other stated the alleged offences were done with the director’s knowledge for the purpose of “getting the deals done.”

Mr Justice Simons refused to make orders preventing the trials, stating that the assessment of whether there is a risk of an unfair trial due to delay is “quintessentially” a matter for the court of trial. He noted that the trial court would be better placed to assess the overall fairness, including the significance of the managing director’s unavailability, which was “a matter of controversy.” The judge also noted that the managing director had given a witness statement expressly stating he had not consented to the actions of the accused.

While acknowledging the trial had not yet taken place more than a decade after the first alleged offences, the judge deemed this “unsatisfactory, to put it neutrally” and stressed that a trial date should be fixed as soon as possible.

Source: Irish Times

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