Ahmet (appellant) v Tatum & anr (respondents)
Thursday 22 February 2024
By an Appellant’s Notice filed on 13 June 2023, this is an appeal against the decision dated 23 May 2023 of Mr Justice Michael Green sitting in the Business and Property Courts, Property Trust and Probate List in which he struck out the Appellant’s Claim under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“the Act”) as an abuse of process.
Background
1. Applicant’s long term partner has been charged with class A drugs offences and money laundering. In August 2021 a restraint order was made my HHJ Holt in the Isleworth Crown Court to prevent dealing with the family home (“the Property”) and money in a joint account in the names of the Applicant and her partner.
2. The Applicant claims a beneficial interest in the Property and the joint account.
3. In May 2022 HHJ Holt varied the restraint order to allow £3,800 per month from the joint account to be used to pay the mortgage.
4. On 19 August 2022 HHJ Holt refused a further application for the payment of £23,070 from the joint account to the Applicant which was said to be the sum she paid from her own account to pay the mortgage from the date of the restraint order to the May 2022 variation. This was refused.
5. On 9 November 2022, the Applicant issued a Part 8 Claim in the High Court.
6. The Applicant’s partner, the First Defendant in those proceedings (and the First Respondent in this Appeal) played no part in the proceedings.
7. The Second Respondent (the CPS) made an application to strike out the Part 8 Claim as an abuse of process on the basis that the claim in relation to a restraint order should properly be made in the Crown Court.
8. The Judge struck out the claim on that basis.
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