A landlord who bullied a mother out of her home has been ordered to pay her £17,000 damages for assault and battery. Judge Kevin Haugh was told in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that Mr Dominick O'Byrne assaulted Mrs Mary Kearney by shoving her against her hall radiator when she told him she did not have £44 in rent arrears for him.
"He then ran through the house ransacking rooms, including my daughter's bedroom, and pulling out drawers," Mrs Kearney told the court.
She told her counsel, Mr Noel Cosgrove, that her husband was at work and she and her children were terrified.
"Mr O'Byrne told us he was going to get `a crew' to evict us and took the house keys with him," she said. "We were unable to lock up the house and spent a night of terror awaiting his return."
Mrs Kearney said Mr O'Byrne returned the following day and sat down in front of her fire, using his mobile phone to make calls. "I was terrified of him and packed a few personal items into a pillowcase and left the house," she said.
She said Mr O'Byrne would not let her family back in to recover £2,000 worth of personal items in the house, at Woodlawn Park Drive, Firhouse, Co Dublin.
Mrs Kearney said she and her family had since found accommodation in Tallaght. Since her terrifying experiences, she had been suffering from nerves and had to attend doctors. She and her husband had been experiencing domestic difficulties, solely because of the treatment she and her family had received at Mr O'Byrne's hands.
Mr Cosgrove told Judge Haugh that the landlord had failed to attend court to defend the action. Notice of the proceedings had been served at three addresses, including Mrs Kearney's former accommodation as well as Mr O'Byrne's family home at Glenvara Park, Templeogue, and an address at Woodlawn Park Grove, Firhouse.
Judge Haugh said that from what he had been told Mr O'Byrne was a bully and had used bullying behaviour to put Mrs Kearney out of her home.
"Even if he had some merit on his side, nothing could justify his actions of bullying his way into Mrs Kearney's home and threatening to bring back a group of heavies."
He said Mrs Kearney and her family had spent a terrifying night and following day and now suffered from a severe nervous disorder and psychiatric problems.
"It was appalling behaviour and I think she is entitled to £15,000 general damages and a further £2,000 damages for the personal property he kept on her."