Judge has ‘no choice’ but to jail man who refused to leave flat

THE resident of a Wexford apartment was led away by gardaí to begin a spell in prison for contempt of court after he refused to leave the flat.

Sometime busker Jonathan Levis of 2A Windmill Heights, Belvedere Road, Wexford, told the Circuit Court that he was up to date with his rent.

And he branded property owners Keith and Caitriona Mooney, with an address of 5 Glenayr Road, Rathgar in Dublin, as absentee landlords.

But Judge Alice Doyle felt she had no alternative but to put the 47-year-old in jail.

The move to have him committed to prison was moved by barrister Frank Coyle who stressed that it was taken as his clients’ last resort.

He explained that case had first been referred to the Residential Tenancies Board over an issue of anti-social behaviour.

The board ruled against the tenant and their decision was then endorsed by the court who ruled that he should leave the apartment.

This ruling was made in July in the absence of Levis, though he was present in court earlier on the day in question.

Levis acknowledged that there had been a complaint from a neighbour who, he said, had moved in a matter of months earlier.

He reckoned that he had been resident since the year 2006. ‘I don’t have to move out for a neighbour,’ he declared. ‘I have a disability and you cannot throw me out on the street.’

He acknowledged that he had been listening to his stereo.

Mr Coyle looked for the committal order, citing the respondent’s continuing to remain in the property as disobedience of a court order.

Representatives of Kearney & Company property company, who had served the orders requiring Levis to leave, were both in court to confirm that they had delivered the relevant legal paperwork.

Kenneth Murphy said he was mainly responsible for rent collection and he acknowledged that the respondent’s rent was paid up to date.

Evidence was also given by Kearney’s maintenance man John Connolly who recalled handing the court documents to Levis around the back of the property.

‘The High Court should deal with this,’ suggested the embattled tenant but the judge told him this was not in order.

She described her position of having to grant the committal to prison as ‘unenviable’ but felt she had no choice in the matter.

Levis had received the received the order requiring him to leave 2A Windmill Heights but he had disregarded it and remained in residence.

He offered the court no undertaking to vacate the apartment and must be jailed for contempt of court, said Judge Doyle.

She asked for Levis to be brought back before her after a week, at the Circuit Court sitting in Clonmel.