A Co Dublin couple, who successfully sued ACC Bank and won €38,000 damages are being sued by another bank for an alleged debt.
Ulster Bank has obtained an order in the Circuit Civil Court freezing €11,000 of the €38,000 awarded to Christopher and Avril Trimble, of Brackenstown Village, Swords, Co Dublin.
The €11,000 will remain locked in court until the parties have fully argued opposing claims as to liability and a judge has determined the issue.
In an action alleging defamation, negligence, breach of contract and fraud against the ACC bank the Trimbles hit the headlines when they won €38,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court in March last.
Judge Kevin Haugh said then that the ACC had treated them "in an abominable fashion" and had subjected the Trimbles to "a regime of intolerable incompetence."
"These decent, honourable and extraordinarily tolerable people have literally been driven to bring these proceedings against ACC," Judge Haugh said.
He had heard Mr David Burke, counsel for the Trimbles, relate how they had suffered a litany of returned cheques and other banking errors which had destroyed their personal and professional reputations.
The ACC bank had admitted liability in the defamation case in which ACC was held to have ignored arrangements for the payment of business accounts and had redirected monies paid in by the Trimbles, to meet Visa bills, towards the repayment of a bank term loan.
So many of their cheques had been dishonoured that police in a squad car had called to their home and sat outside until arrangements had been made to pay parking fines in cash after cheques had been returned by ACC.
The new legal action by Ulster Bank to recover €11,000 it claims the Trimbles owe them, and which the Trimbles deny, is expected to be dealt with in October next after the legal holiday.