The High Court granted Start Mortgages an interlocutory injunction concerning a Rathfarnham property after finding that Derek May had returned to occupy it despite signing a deed surrendering vacant possession. The ruling addresses interim relief only; the company’s entitlement to possession remains an issue for trial.
Start Mortgages brought the application against Kieran Doyle and Derek May. The company said it was mortgagee in possession of Number 1, Butterfield Meadow, Butterfield Crescent, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, and sought to restrain interference with its possession. The judge found that May’s occupation without the company’s permission prima facie amounted to trespass.
The property had been mortgaged to Bank of Scotland in 2003 and 2004. After arrears arose, the Circuit Court made a consent possession order in July 2014, staying execution for 12 months to allow a voluntary sale. A contract was signed in January 2015 for €750,000, but a judgment mortgage registered in favour of ACC Bank against May’s interest complicated the sale. Bank of Scotland later transferred the loan and security to Start Mortgages.
In July 2015, May and his estranged wife, Brenda May, signed a deed of voluntary surrender after receiving legal advice. Start said it took physical possession in August, when the property was vacant and secured. The judge found that Derek May was later in occupation. Doyle identified himself as an occupant claiming to have a lease, but produced none. He subsequently said in an email that he would not contest the proceedings. The court permitted Start to amend its pleadings to include May alongside Doyle.
May argued that he had been misled into signing the surrender deed and lacked capacity at the time. The judge said the evidence before the court did not support either claim: the medical records showed no impairment of his capacity when he signed, and he had been legally advised. These were findings for the interlocutory application, not a final determination of the underlying dispute.
Applying the Campus Oil test, the court found a serious issue to be tried and a strong prima facie case for Start. It concluded damages would not adequately protect the claimed property rights and that May’s financial position also raised doubt that he could meet a damages award. The balance of convenience favoured an injunction, including because continued occupation delayed a sale and could reduce Brenda May’s potential equity.
The judgment grants interlocutory relief to restrain interference with Start’s claimed entitlement to possession. It does not finally decide the company’s entitlement or the parties’ underlying claims.