The wife of a man who was jailed for eight years for the rape of a woman in a Dublin hotel is seeking a High Court order preventing him from unlawfully taking control of the company in which they are both shareholders.
Fiona Brett claims Dermot Brett, who is sole director and 80 per cent shareholder in Pharmafoods Ltd in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, is acting, from his prison cell, in a manner oppressive to her as a 20 per cent shareholder in the firm.
Brett (57), of Sweet Auburn, Carrickbeg, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, was jailed last November at the Central Criminal Court on one count of rape at the InterContinental Hotel on January 11th, 2019.
He had pleaded not guilty, and the victim consented to him being named following his conviction by a jury.
The court heard that friends of the 20-year-old woman, who was a university student, had got a taxi for her after she was asked to leave a pub because of her intoxicated state.
Shortly afterwards, she got out of the taxi unbeknown to her friends and then met with Brett, who claimed he was concerned for her welfare because there were a number of men around who had an interest in her.
The woman had no recollection of meeting Brett or getting out of the taxi. CCTV footage at the hotel they arrived at showed she was still unable to remain upright.
Ms Brett claims his conviction and subsequent reporting and naming post-trial had a devastating impact on the business, resulting in the loss of all of the key customers and suppliers.
The company was once family owned and engaged in supplying food processing equipment and operating from Ivowen Retail Park, Clonmel.
Ms Brett said in an affidavit the company has been the primary source of income for the family since its incorporation in 1996.
Last February, she said she received correspondence from her husband's then solicitors alleging various acts of misconduct and proposing to take control of the company by appointing a person with power of attorney.
Her solicitors raised concerns as to the suitability of that person who she said has had a number of judgments registered against him with restrictions from acting a company director up to 2018.
She said company law requires that a person convicted of an indictable offence is no longer qualified to serve as a company director. When this was pointed out to his lawyers, he did not proceed with his attempt to take control following the letter from his lawyers last February.
Ms Brett, who said she looked after the administration of the business and dealt with suppliers, said another company, Pharmafoods Services Ltd, was set up last October and it now provides income for her and her family.
She said this is not a passing off of Pharmafoods Ltd as the new firm is not buying or selling products. "The commercial reality is that following his conviction for rape, suppliers refused to deal with the respondent or any company he was associated with", she said.
She now provides for her family through consultancy fees from a UK firm. She is also suffering from serious health difficulties, she said.
In March, a new firm of solicitors acting for her husband wrote stating an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the company was to take place at which it was proposed to appoint Dermot Brett's brother Thomas and sister Lillian as directors.
Despite correspondence from her solicitors, she said his solicitors insisted the EGM would go ahead.
She believes the primary motivation for appointing his brother and sister was to dissipate the assets and reserves of the company, which she said are significant.
On Wednesday, her lawyers applied to the High Court on a one-side-only-represented basis for permission to bring shareholder oppression proceedings against him. David Kennedy SC, for Mrs Brett, said the complainant in the criminal proceedings against him had waived anonymity.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan granted counsel permission to serve the proceedings at short notice on the respondent and said the case can come back before the court next week.
