Court orders return of property seized by police

Deemster agreed searches appeared to be a 'fishing expedition' 

A court has ordered the return of property seized from a businessman after ruling that a police search warrant used to enter his home was unlawfully obtained.

The case stemmed from a warrant executed in September 2025 as part of an investigation into alleged financial offences. 

While the court had already found the warrant to be invalid, a further hearing was needed to determine whether police could continue to retain material seized from Jonathan Haywood during the search.

Deemster Andrew Corlett said that the legal threshold for a search warrant had not been met and that investigators should instead have sought a production order - a less intrusive method of obtaining evidence.

Police argued that notifying Mr Haywood in advance could have created a risk that evidence would be destroyed. 

However, Deemster Corlett found little basis for that concern, saying that 'the evidence before Deemster Cook and before me is less than overwhelming'.

The judgment highlighted Mr Haywood's history of cooperating with regulators and authorities, including seeking guidance on anti-money laundering compliance and rejected suggestions that his conduct was suspicious.

Deemster Corlett also found that important background information had not been properly presented when the warrant application was made; while allegations against Haywood were overstated. 

Agreeing with submissions made on Haywood's behalf, he agreed that the 'exercise appears to be in the nature of a fishing expedition'.

He concluded that, had the full history of the matter been disclosed, Deemster Cook would likely have authorised a production order rather than a search and seizure operation.

The judgment was particularly critical of the application process, stating that 'the chief constable has adopted a less than rigorous and scrupulous approach to the making and presentation of the application'.

The court ordered the return of any remaining property and the destruction of copies of extracted data. 

While critical of the investigation, Deemster Corlett said police had not acted in bad faith, attributing the failings to a lack of rigour rather than deliberate misconduct.