Trespass incident dismissed

THE case against a man accused of trespass after he called to a house to ensure a neighbouring property was empty has been dismissed at Drogheda District Court.

Geoffrey Nolan with an address at Hermitage Gardens, Lucan, Dublin was accused of the offence at a property in Seabury Lawns in Mornington on June 11th, 2016.

The court heard Nolan works for an asset security company involved in repossessing vacant properties. The solicitor for the defence said his job is post sheriff after all the court proceedings have finished and he does not enter a house until they have confirmed that it is empty.

In order to do this they must speak to neighbours or those in a local shop or post office to confirm the house is empty.

The solicitor said Nolan called to the house in question to make sure the house he was dealing with, which was a couple of doors up the street, was empty. He said it appeared the woman had her own issues with the bank and she took umbrage with the defendant and thought he was there to repossess her house.

The solicitor said his client had told the woman it was nothing to do with her and he was enquiring about a property two doors up.

Judge John Coughlan said the matter should not have been brought to the criminal court but should instead have been dealt with by way of civil proceedings and he dismissed the case.