The court-ordered sale of a Co Tipperary farm for £425,000 was deferred by a High Court judge yesterday after he was told there were two tenants on the property.
On November 9th last Mr Justice Kelly ordered that documents be executed to complete the sale of the farm of Mr Donal Brereton, of Oldcourt, Borrisokane, Co Tipperary. It was directed that, of the monies received, £100,000 should be paid to a former girlfriend of the farmer, Ms Sinead Mulcair, of Main Street, Borrisokane, Co Tipperary. A further £109,000 was to be paid to discharge a debt to the ACC Bank.
Last autumn, Mr Brereton spent four months in prison, including a period at the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin, because of his failure to honour an undertaking to pay the £100,000 to his former girlfriend.
His land was to have been sold in trust to a Dublin solicitor for £425,000 on foot of a contract between them in July 1988.
When the case came before Mr Justice Kelly yesterday it was revealed there were two tenants to whom Mr Brereton had apparently granted a lease on the farm.
The court was told that one lease was due to expire in December 2000 and the second, a five-year lease, allegedly ran from April 1997.
On hearing of the occupation of the farm, Mr Justice Kelly put a stay on his order of November last which had directed the execution of documents to complete the sale. He said he would adjourn the case for a fortnight so that whatever further necessary motion was needed could be then brought before the court.