Bagman for crime gang asks court for more legal aid money to value his home
High Court Reporters
A convicted bagman for an organised crime gang has asked the High Court for more free legal aid in order to have a quantity surveyor value his home as he fights a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) bid to seize the property.
In October 2022, Patrick Lawlor (59) was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, having admitted his role in a money laundering operation for a criminal gang which had an income of almost €12 million during 2019.
Lawlor and another convicted man, the court heard, were being paid monthly by the criminal organisation for handling hundreds of thousands of euro before their arrest following a Garda surveillance operation.
The court heard that just under €900,000 was seized by gardaí at the home of Patrick Lawlor.
In July, the High Court granted Lawlor and his wife, Leonie, free legal aid to challenge CAB's case against them, in which the bureau is targeting their Collins Avenue West home in Whitehall, Dublin.
The couple were granted legal aid to contest the valuation put on an extension and works to their house, with €4,000 approved as part of the order to pay for a report from a quantity surveyor.
Free legal aid was granted in circumstances where bank accounts were frozen.
At the High Court this week, Andrew McKeown BL, for the Lawlors, said that nine quantity surveyors had been contacted to no avail.
He said that he wanted to make a further application for an increase in the amount set aside for the report and suggested that up to €10,000 could be made available.
Mr Justice Liam Kennedy adjourned the fresh legal aid application to November.
Ms Lawlor previously told the court that her three children are grown up but she is still living in the family home and pays the mortgage from a legitimate income.
The court heard that the Lawlors bought the house in 2007, while the CAB case focuses on income between 2010 and 2020.
In 2022 at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Patrick Lawlor, of Collins Avenue West, Whitehall, Dublin 9 pleaded guilty to possessing €412,000 on May 26, 2020 which was the proceeds of crime.
Lawlor also pleaded guilty to possession of €477,370 in cash, £6,920 Sterling, 1,940 Romanian Lei (approximately €400), 187 Ukrainian Hryvnia Lei (approximately €5) and $3,295 US Dollars.
At the time of his sentencing, he had no previous convictions.
Judge Melanie Greally said “it does not take any leap of imagination to infer” that money seized by gardaí had originated from serious criminal activity.
She said Lawlor Snr played a “central role”, which would have been of “critical importance” to the criminal organisation over a period of several years.
Judge Greally acknowledged that Lawlor Sr had a modest family home, but said he also had a significant amount of cash in a frozen bank account and a luxury vehicle.
