In the High Court on Friday, Ms Justice Murphy declined an injunction application made by live export company Anglo East Ltd, which Paolo and Davide Garavelli (former TLT International directors) are associated with. The company was seeking an injunction against farmer and cattle dealer John Hallissey, Askeaton, Co Limerick, restraining him from slaughtering, selling or disposing in any way of 82 cattle which Anglo East supplied to Mr Hallissey.

Paolo Garavelli, in an affidavit on behalf of Anglo East, claims the company sold 82 cattle to Mr Hallissey in March 2015 and has not been paid for the stock, which it values close to €85,000. Anglo East had also claimed that the Department of Agriculture is currently investigating Hallissey for tampering with cattle tags and they could not be associated with these cattle as they would damage Anglo East’s reputation. Hallissey strongly refutes these allegations.

Hallissey contends that the cattle were offered to him by Anglo East as a balance against money he was owed from an Italian client, whom he says Paolo Garavelli had put him in contact with. Hallissey said he encountered great difficulty receiving payment from Mr Giovanni, the Italian client, after the cattle had been moved to Italy.

Hallissey said the 82 cattle were then offered to him by Anglo East as part of an agreement to make up for the failed Italian deal. Anglo East claims it had no involvement whatsoever in any dealings between Hallissey and his Italian contact.

Ms Justice Murphy described the relationship between Hallissey and Anglo East Ltd as “brief, tangled and ultimately disharmonious” but declined to grant the injunction against Hallissey as she felt damages would be an adequate remedy if the case was brought to trial.

Regarding any of the fears Anglo East had of reputational damage, Ms Justice Murphy commented that any investigation by the Department of Agriculture should be enough to allay these fears.