Freeman Megamerge

Melissa Kelly, who the judge said described herself as being a republican, farmer, and a member of a group called Concerned Parents against Government Overreach; and Joe Doocey, who the judge described as a machine driver, journalist and member of groups including the Anti-Eviction Task Force.

An inspection in February 2019 revealed that the house had been re-occupied. The receiver, through newly appointed property managers, engaged with the new tenants, one of whom was the mother of a young child. The tenants advised that they had a one year fixedterm lease from the first defendant for which they had paid the sum of €4,000 in respect of a deposit and the first month’s rent. A tenancy agreement is exhibited which is signed by the first defendant and dated 10 February 2019. These tenants attempted to co-operate with the plaintiff as receiver and paid the rent directly to the plaintiff’s agents. However, they then became the subject of a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation which appears to have been conducted at the behest of the first defendant. Significantly, the averments of the plaintiff and two of his property managers who dealt with these events have not been denied by the first defendant in his replying affidavit.  

The tenants variously informed either the plaintiff or his property managers that they were advised by someone known to them as “Declan” who was apparently acting on behalf of the first defendant that their lease with the first defendant was terminated for breach of its terms and that they would be evicted. Declan subsequently attended at the premises unannounced in the company of another man and attempted to gain access. The first defendant called to the workplace of one of the tenants. There appears to have been a number of text messages, telephone calls and visits to the property by Declan and others. Very concerningly, Declan appears to have made a death threat to the property manager through the tenants, threatening to shoot him in the head if he went near the house. Notwithstanding the ongoing harassment and threats, the Gardaí to whom complaints were made refused to become involved on the basis that this was a civil matter. The tenants left the property in mid-August as they were genuinely afraid for their safety and that of the young child and could no longer deal with the stress arising from these events.  

At this point the defendants purported to transfer the house into a supposed private settlement trust operated by an individual who is well known to the courts. This individual, Ben Gilroy, wrote directly to PODAC on 20 August 2019. Leaving aside the various pseudolegal claims made regarding the receiver’s position and alleged breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation, the general thrust of this correspondence was that the defendants wished to redeem their mortgage, had secured the backing of an investor in order to do so and that Mr. Gilroy wished to enter into settlement talks with PODAC on the defendants’ behalf.  

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Separately, it seems that almost immediately following the departure of the second tenants, a third tenant was installed in the house by the defendant. A newly appointed security and property company attended the house on behalf of the plaintiff and spoke with the tenant who again advised that he had paid a sum of €4,000 for the lease and was dealing with a man called Declan. At various times both Declan and Mr. Gilroy advised the personnel of this security company that they had met or spoken with the plaintiff. 

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The first defendant avers that he involved the private settlement trust out of frustration and that the trust installed the third tenant. Apparently, the defendants were paying half of the rental income from the property to the trust until a court order was made that the rent should be paid into an escrow account.