Ashford and others v Southampton City Council

Proceeds of crime – Restraint order. The applicants appealed against a judge's refusal to discharge and vary ex parte orders, restraining them from dealing with property said to be worth more than £1m, under s 41 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, discharged the orders against the third and fourth defendant companies, as there was no reasonable cause to believe that they had been laundering money. It further imposed a cap of £720,000 on the orders against the first and second applicants, as there was no realistic possibility that a confiscation order would follow in excess of that sum.