Fianna Fail developer tells Judge Kelly “I refuse to answer that question” when asked if he was provided with a loan

“Mr. Beades appeared to have no hesitation in making allegations, including allegations of criminal wrongdoing, against parties not before the Court. He persisted in those allegations despite evidence demonstrating that they were simply wrong. Many of these allegations had nothing to do with any substantive defence to the case which Mr. Beades might have. He appeared to be of the view that he was at liberty to make such allegations of wrongdoing, not merely against the Bank, but against non-parties to this case with little or nothing by way of evidence to support his wide-ranging criticism.” Judge Kelly in High Court judgment in July 2012

It’s slightly uncomfortable to make reference to a political party in this blogpost, but the developer in question, Jerry Beades was until recently on Fianna Fail’s Ard Comhairle (National Executive) and is a “close friend” of Bertie Ahern, which makes the party-affiliation noteworthy. Jerry was on the receiving end of a Mr Justice Peter Kelly Kelly judgment in July 2012 which has just now been published online. The case involved Bank of Scotland pursuing Jerry for nearly €10m lent for property development, and during the course of the hearing, Judge Kelly asked what you might have thought was a straightforward question – if Jerry had received the monies at issue from Bank of Scotland – and the response was “I refuse to answer that question”.

Jerry – pictured here – who seems to have two home addresses these days, one at 30, Richmond Avenue, Fairview, Dublin 3 and the other in Northern Ireland at Stoneyford Road, Lisburn, County Antrim, failed in his bid to stop Bank of Scotland securing a summary judgment from Judge Kelly in respect of €9.7m.

The judgment is also noteworthy for allegations by Jerry of bias on the part of Judge Kelly evidenced, said Jerry, by “comments and actions” at two previous hearings – one of which Jerry didn’t attend but he was told about the “comments and actions” by “people who were”! Judge Kelly was having none of it and pointed out that no evidence of bias was produced by Jerry, and that in any event Jerry had been granted discretionary extensions on time to file affidavits, hardly the acts of a biased judge.

Jerry also alleged criminal behaviour on the part of a practising solicitor at A&L Goodbody, and against Bank of Scotland/Certus employees. But when presented with evidence which contradicted his allegations, the judgment states “one might have thought that in the light of this evidence, Mr. Beades would withdraw his allegations against Ms. Wrightson and Mr. Sheehy. On the contrary, he persisted in them. Indeed, he went further. Without a shred of evidence, he alleged that Ms. Wrightson’s affidavit had not been sworn in London at all. He alleged that Mr. Sheehy was not entitled to take the affidavit because he was not a solicitor registered with the English Law Society. He attempted to implicate Mr. Sheehy’s employers, A& L Goodbody, in wrongdoing.” Again, the no-nonsense Judge Kelly was having none of it.

Summary judgment of €9.7m was awarded against Jerry.

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