Missing man’s asset seizure hits snag in the Supreme Court

The process of repossessing missing Larrimah man Paddy Moriarty’s property has hit a legal hurdle in the Supreme Court.

Paddy Moriarty’s home on the Stuart Hwy has stood vacant since his disappearance in December 2017.

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The process of repossessing missing Larrimah man Paddy Moriarty’s assets hit a snag in the Supreme Court on Friday when a government lawyer couldn’t find the point of law allowing the court to approve the seizure.

Mr Moriarty will have been missing for two years this Christmas and police have long-since given up finding him alive.

Without any known living relatives, it falls the NT Public Trustee to liquidate the reclusive Irishman’s personal assets and lawyer Cheryl Watson made an abortive attempt to get the ball rolling before Justice Terence Coulehan on Friday morning.

The proceeding was a bid to invoke a reserved order made in April last year that would have seen Mr Moriarty’s property handed over to be sold and the proceeds held in trust.

But the hearing stalled when neither Ms Watson nor Justice Coulehan were able to identify the law that would allow the application to be granted.

Paddy Moriarty with his dog on the steps out the front of the Larrimah Hotel. Picture: Helen Orr

“Can you take me to the relevant sections that give me power to make the order that you’re seeking?” Justice Coulehan asked.

“Giving you the right to apply for directions doesn’t give me the power to order that property vest in the Public Trustee, that’s what I’m looking for, that power.”

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Ms Watson initially requested a 10 minute adjournment to research the question but the matter was stood down until the afternoon after Justice Coulehan suggested she might need more time as he hadn’t been able to clarify the point either.

“I think you might need more than 10 minutes, I’ve been looking at this myself (and) I was hoping you’d be able to assist me,” he said.

“I’m still bemused as to what my power is.”

Eventually it was decided the hearing would resume next week.

In June last year, the detective spearheading the investigation into Mr Moriarty’s suspected killing told an inquest his body would have been found “if he was above ground”.

Police have presumed him to be dead since a week after he was last seen, but the cause of his suspected death remains a mystery.