This article is from page 10 of the 2006-01-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
A YOUNG Clare businessman, who legitimately imported a car from England to sell to a client here, has been left out of pocket by up to €23,000, after it subsequently transpired that the vehicle had been stolen in England, leaving a judge with no choice but to return it to an English insurance company.
Twenty-four year old Derek Considine, who runs a car dealership business in Miltown Malbay since he was 17, was told by Judge Geoffrey Browne at Miltown Malbay District Court that his “hands were tied” and could not return the car to him although he had “done nothing wrong.”
Gardaí had pursed the matter under the Police Property Act to have the Audi A4 car returned to its rightful owner after discovering that it had been stolen in West Yorkshire in 2004. Mr Considine was seeking to have the car returned to him while an agent for the insurance company Norwich Union claimed that his client was the rightful owner. Mr Considine told the court that he had purchased the car in England after seeing it advertised in Autotrader magazine.
“I checked with the police and everyone else and I was told that the car was not stolen, had not been crashed previously and was not subject to a hire-purchase agreement,” he said in evidence.
“I had done all the things that were necessary and the car checked out perfect. I paid £8,500 (Stg), brought it home and paid the duties to Revenue.”
Mr Considine later sold the car to his brother-in-law but it later transpired that the car had been stolen. Gardaí visited Mr Considine and inspected the vehicle and later seized it for further examination. Gardaí discovered that another chassis number plate had been placed over the original.
Also contesting ownership of the car was the general manager of an English-based company, given responsibility for recovering vehicles for insurers Norwich Union. Mr John Armstrong of Norman Marshall confirmed that the car had been stolen in England in 2004 and that Norwich Union had paid out £10,395 to the owner for the loss on September 21, 2004.
Judge Geoffrey Browne accepted that Mr Considine had acted in good faith and had “done nothing wrong”, but added, “what can I do? I would return the car to you if I could, but you are not entitled to it. I am sorry, Mr Considine, my hands are tied.”
Judge Browne granted the garda application and ruled that the car should be handed over to Norman Marshall.