Man who took racehorse is 'perilously' close to being jailed if he does not return it
High Court reporters
A man who took a racehorse he claims he half-owns from an equestrian centre because it was "rotting" has been warned by a judge he is "perilously" close to being jailed for contempt of a High Court order if he does not return the animal by 5pm on Thursday.
Last July, the High Court ordered James and Paula Buckley, who the court found unjustly enriched themselves with money loaned to them by an English businesswoman and former business partner, to pay her over €800,000 in damages. As part of the ruling, the animal, which she co-owns with Mr Buckley, was to be put in her care and it was then sent to the centre located in Glenamaddy, Co Galway.
Mr Justice Liam Kennedy said he was satisfied with making various orders in favour of PR and event manager Caroline Teltsch against Mr and Mrs Buckley, whose addresses were listed as Hillview Stables, Ballymoon, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow.
Ms Teltsch is the owner of the Emerald Equestrian Centre in Enfield, Co Kildare, which was formerly known as Jessbrook and had been run by the family of gangster John Gilligan and later operated by Mr Buckley.
Ms Teltsch had claimed she was persuaded by Mr Buckley to buy Jessbrook from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) for a sum just under €450,000 in 2013.
The centre was the subject of lengthy legal proceedings involving CAB and Gilligan's family.
The court also made declarations, including that certain folios of land in Co Kildare near the centre are held in trust by Mr Buckley for Ms Teltsch, and that she is entitled to be registered as an owner of stallion racehorse 'Big Time Louie', of which she owns 50 per cent.
Mr Justice Kennedy's ruling was later appealed by the Buckleys but was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
At the High Court on Wednesday, Mr Buckley said he had taken the horse from the equestrian centre earlier this month because its feet were "rotting" and it could not properly walk.
Francis McGagh BL told Mr Justice Brian Cregan that Mr Buckley and another person had gone to the centre on April 9th with a horse box and taken the animal "without any consent or permission", in defiance of the original court ruling.
Mr Buckley said it was he who retained the horse's passport and that the horse could not be ridden and had cuts and grazes on its hind quarter, which, he said, was "sad to see".
Mr Justice Cregan asked why Mr Buckley did not come back into court to ask for the removal of the horse from the centre to an alternative one.
"I know now," said Mr Buckley.
"That’s ridiculous. You are on very thin ice here," said Mr Justice Cregan, who ordered the immediate return of the horse to the plaintiff's care by 5pm on Thursday.
The judge warned if his order was not complied with Mr Buckley was "perilously close to being committed to prison".
"If you persist in breaching orders like this I will have no option but to commit you," the judge told Mr Buckley.
Mr Justice Cregan then adjourned the matter to next week.
In her original claim, Ms Teltsch said she advanced a large amount of loans to Mr Buckley and his wife.
She claimed the money was loaned for a variety of reasons, including to refurbish and run the equestrian centre between 2010 and 2018. However, she "never received a penny back" from the couple, she claimed.
She also claimed the defendants engaged in a protracted campaign of confidence trickery, emotional manipulation and financial exploitation against her.
Other loans, she claimed, were advanced to pay for a Jaguar XKR and a Mitsubishi Evo sports car, revenue bills, medical expenses, electricity bills, the costs of legal proceedings Mr Buckley was involved in, a deposit on a house, and on flights to New York for the Buckleys' wedding.
