A HIGH Court judge has made an order jailing three members of a Co Laois family for six months for contempt of a court order, made two years ago, which required them to clear up their lands where an illegal land-filling operation has taken place.
Michael Scully, his wife Eileen Scully and their son Richard, of Ballyroan, Co Laois, received the six-month sentence, to begin from April next, for contempt of a High Court order of April 2006 directing them to stop an illegal land-filling operation at lands at Knockacrin, Timahoe, Co Laois, and to restore the lands to their original condition within a year.
The proceedings by Laois County Council against the family have been before the High Court on several occasions, with the council making repeated complaints about failure to comply with the court order. The three respondents had said they could not afford to comply with it.
Yesterday, when imposing the prison sentence, Mr Justice Michael Peart said there was "no prospect" of getting the Scullys to comply with the order, which had outlined a remedial action plan to restore the lands. That plan included an excavation of the lands and the removal of all of the waste material.
Last month, the council again complained the Scullys were not complying with the terms of the order. Yesterday Niamh Hyland, for the council, said there had been no progress since then.
In his decision, Mr Justice Peart noted the matter had been before the courts on many occasions and had been adjourned, despite strenuous objections from the council, in an effort to get the Scullys to comply with the order.
However, the Scullys had chosen to "drag their feet" and the court "cannot stand by any longer" in relation to a serious environmental situation, the judge said.
He was making the order to have the Scullys sent to prison "with the greatest possible regret". They had been given "every reasonable opportunity to comply with the court's order", he said.
The judge directed that the jail sentences should not begin until early April to allow the Scullys to get their affairs in order. He also awarded the council its costs against the defendants.