Court restrains subcontractor from blocking access to building site

A BUILDING subcontractor, claiming to be owed about €147,000 by a building company, used a digger to halt work on a building site and threatened the company’s managing director to the effect he would “murder” him, the High Court has been told.

After allegedly making those threats last week, Damien McCarthy said he had “nothing to lose” as he had lost a brother and sister to suicide in the last 12 months, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy heard.

She made an interim order restraining Mr McCarthy, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, from trespassing on or interfering with works being carried out by Adston Ltd, Belturbet, Co Cavan, to extend a Lidl store at Gorey, Co Wexford.

The order was sought by Hugh Mohan SC, for Adston, on an ex- parte (one side only) basis yesterday. Mr Mohan said the actions of Mr McCarthy, including blocking access to the site with a digger and a 4x4 vehicle, as well as chaining gates, were jeopardising the works and threatening jobs.

Mr Mohan earlier said Mr McCarthy had from January last carried out various works for Adston and had been paid about €70,900, but he claimed to be owed a further €147,000.

Adston disputed that claim and believed some €6,000 might be outstanding but Mr McCarthy had failed, despite numerous requests, to present the required invoices. One invoice had been provided last May, Mr Mohan added.

In an affidavit, Louise Downey, an Adston director, said she was told that Mr McCarthy had made threats to Adston’s managing director Gary Meehan “to the effect that he would murder Gary Meehan and, if he met any members of Mr Meehan’s family first, he would murder them”.