A judge said yesterday a Cork neighbour should grow up after a civil trial into a dispute between two families.
Mr Troy Cremin (26), of Ardarrig, Douglas, Co Cork, was before Cork Circuit Criminal Court with his parents, Mr Noel Cremin and Ms Maureen Cremin, in a case brought by his next-door neighbours, Mr Tony Hartigan and Ms Eileen Hartigan, who claimed they were subject to a catalogue of intimidation and abuse at the hands of the Cremins.
The three-day case ended yesterday with Judge Patrick Moran agreeing with the Hartigans' side of the story.
During the trial it was claimed that the Hartigans' rose bushes were destroyed, the pipeline to their oil central heating tank was severed and cameras and signs were erected by the Cremins to intimidate their neighbours.
It was also claimed diesel was poured over the Hartigans' hedging causing massive damage to the shrubbery.
Yesterday, video footage made by Mr Hartigan showed Mr Troy Cremin standing on his garden shed silhouetted against the sky. The footage showed regular fires being lit by the Cremins, and the smoke drifting towards the Hartigans' property. Viewers heard a lengthy segment where a chain-saw was being revved incessantly from inside the Cremins' property.
Judge Moran heard evidence yesterday of Mr Troy Cremin's criminal past. He had been convicted of a number of crimes including larceny, burglary, assault and harassment.
In his judgment, Judge Moran said that he was satisfied that Mr Troy Cremin was the cause of the dispute going too far.
"I am going to ask for and demand peace between these families, and urge the Cremins to get on with their lives and direct their son to something more useful ... He is of an age now that he should be doing something other than harassing, intimidating and threatening the Hartigans. He should be growing up."
Mr Troy Cremin said afterwards that he and his family would be appealing the case to the High Court.
The judge dismissed the counter-claim against the Hartigans at Cork Circuit Court yesterday. "I take the view that the Hartigans have been forced into this court."
He ordered Mr Troy Cremin and his parents to pay €4,000 in damages to the Hartigans.
He also ordered them to remove signs from their premises that overlooked the Hartigans' property, to stop shining lights or using recording equipment covering the Hartigans' property.
Judge Moran ordered Mr Troy Cremin and Mr Noel Cremin not to trespass on the property or interfere with the Hartigans' plants or shrubs, and to have no communication by any means, verbal or written, with the Hartigans. He bound the parties to the peace.
The counter-claims he dismissed, included an allegation that Mr Hartigan cut palm trees without permission.
The judge said he did not believe that the Cremins had given permission expressly, but that Mr Hartigan would have believed he had implied permission as he had been cutting them for years. He did not believe Mr Hartigan had acted maliciously by cutting the trees.