The High Court sentenced Eugene Costello to seven days in prison for punitive contempt after finding he breached court orders and an undertaking in a dispute over the sale of a farm in Coolfree, Taughmaconnell, Ballinasloe, County Roscommon.
In a judgment delivered on 12 January 2018, Mr Justice Twomey said Carlisle Mortgages Limited owned the farm after Costello failed to repay borrowings secured on it. Carlisle had agreed to sell the lands to a third party for €225,000.
The contempt motion concerned alleged breaches of earlier court orders and an undertaking. The court had ordered Costello on 5 July 2017 to remove his animals and not obstruct the sale. The judgment records that Costello gave sworn evidence that he put cattle on the farm in July 2017 and later testified that he removed them only after the July order.
The court also considered a solicitor’s letter sent on Costello’s behalf around 6 October 2017. The letter disputed Carlisle’s entitlement to sell or enter the lands and offered to facilitate an inspection by appointment. The judge treated it as evidence that Costello had obstructed the sale. The court also noted sworn evidence that Costello had undertaken in July 2014 not to allow further cattle onto the farm, after purging an earlier contempt by removing animals.
The judge found Costello in clear breach of the 5 July 2017 order and the 2014 undertaking. He also cited Costello’s sworn testimony that he would not facilitate the sale for the agreed price as relevant to his future intentions, while saying it was not determinative of the punitive contempt decision.
The court imposed seven days’ imprisonment for punitive contempt, referring to breaches of the 5 July 2017 order, an order it identified as dated 11 October 2017, and the 2014 undertaking. The judgment earlier refers to an order dated 11 October 2010, and says the notice of motion incorrectly gave the date as 10 October 2010. The source therefore contains an inconsistency in the order date cited in the sentencing paragraph.
The judgment says Carlisle may apply to commit Costello for a further period if he continues to breach the orders after release. It does not state that any further committal was ordered.