A couple have avoided being jailed for contempt after they agreed before the High Court to comply with orders to leave an apartment they have been living at for several years.
Jordan Mitchell and Dinicka Ryan gave sworn undertakings before Mr Justice Mark Sanfey on Tuesday to vacate an apartment at Ballycummin Village, Raheen, Co Limerick, within four weeks.
The owner of the property, Tarbutus Limited, claimed the couple have no right to be there and are in breach of court orders it obtained requiring them to vacate the apartment.
It claimed the couple repeatedly refused to leave and were wrongfully paying rent to the apartment’s former owner, Conor Hogan.
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Mr Justice Sanfey said he had every sympathy for the couple and their two young children, and expressed concern that the defendants were being “used to serve the interests of somebody else”.
However, he said, the couple had known for some time that the day to leave the apartment was coming.
The judge told the couple they were given several chances to address matters, but had failed to do so.
Ms Ryan had been before the court last March, and on that occasion was given six weeks to leave the property but failed to so, the judge added.
The judge said that while the couple had paid rent to Mr Hogan, he was not entitled to have anything to do with the property.
The judge said he would not be doing his job if he allowed people to disobey court orders.
He noted that it was to the couple’s credit that they were not brought before the court by gardaí, and had attended by arrangement without having to be arrested.
After considering their positions, both Mr Mitchell and Ms Ryan, who became visibly upset during the proceedings, agreed to comply with the orders to vacate.
The judge gave them four weeks to comply and warned of the serious consequences they will face if they fail to vacate the property by then.
John Kennedy SC, for Tarbutus, said his client brought the motion seeking the couple’s attachment and possible committal to prison with great reluctance due to the ongoing refusal to comply with the order to vacate.
Counsel said that if the couple leave the property within the agreed period, his client would not pursue them for the legal costs of bringing the application.
The judge adjourned the matter to a date in early July.
In its motion, Tarbutus claimed it is the property’s registered owner, which it purchased from a financial fund called Tanager DAC some years ago.
Tarbutus said that in 2020 it brought proceedings against Mr Hogan, of Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, who it is alleged unlawfully went into occupation of the property.
In 2022 Tarbutus obtained a High Court order, which was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal, requiring all persons to immediately vacate the property.
Ms Ryan and Mr Mitchell, who it is alleged rented the property from Mr Hogan for almost four years, were aware of that order but had refused to comply with it, the company claimed.
Mr Hogan continues to dispute the plaintiff’s entitlement to the property, and has separate proceedings regarding the property pending before the courts.
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