Court orders ‘shoplifting’ family’s eviction

A FAMILY with more than a dozen children who are ‘actively involved in theft’ are being evicted from their Midlands home.

On Friday, a judge granted an order of possession on the house and put a three-month stay on the order.

The local county council now has an obligation to rehouse the family.

Six of the youngest children were also taken into care after the judge issued a three-month interim care order this week.

The mother of the children, who has more than 100 previous convictions, is in jail for shoplifting, with a judge remarking it was in the family’s ‘best interest’ that the children are put in care.

A court previously heard how the family’s landlord ‘wanted them out’ and was not interested in the over €2,000 owed to him. The house is understood to be in appalling condition, with rubbish being thrown over the walls into neighbours’ gardens.

The family came under threat of eviction last Christmas and were preparing to barricade themselves into their home. However, the eviction was put on hold.

Last month, a judge asked the father of the family if the court would have to make them leave the house.

The MoS previously reported how eight children in the family are in the criminal justice system.

The children are trained to shoplift, with a judge saying last year that the parents have ‘abdicated themselves of any responsibility of bringing their children up in society… I believe the children are actively involved in theft and bringing the spoils back home to be shared.’

Gardaí have sent several referrals to Túsla in relation to conditions at the family home and are preparing to bring charges of neglect against the parents.