A TAXI driver has been jailed for not complying with a High Court order compelling him to demolish the timber cabin in Portrane, Co Dublin, which has been his home since 2008.
Mr Justice John Hedigan jailed Derek Griffin yesterday after finding him in contempt of an order obtained by Fingal County Council directing him to take down the timber bungalow near the sea at Driftwood, Burrow, Portrane. The council claims the structure was built without planning permission.
The council had deemed Mr Griffin eligible for social housing and had offered him a three-bedroom house in Skerries which he refused, the court heard.
Mr Griffin told the judge he would not accept the offer because the house was too far away.
After the council obtained an order in December 2008 directing the structure be taken down within six months, Mr Griffin applied for planning permission for retention of the cabin.
The council refused it on grounds the cabin was built in a high-amenity area of flattened sand dunes adjoining a special area of conservation and was on land zoned for agricultural use.
When Mr Griffin refused to demolish the house, the council brought High Court proceedings. The case was adjourned several times previously to facilitate efforts to resolve the dispute.
Yesterday, Damien Keaney, for the council, said it regretted having to bring a motion seeking Mr Griffin’s committal to prison.
Counsel said the application was being made in circumstances where Mr Griffin had agreed to demolish the cabin by January 2012 but that had not happened. Mr Griffin had been offered a house in Skerries, but “was not accepting the property”, counsel added.
Mr Griffin, representing himself, said he was refusing the Skerries house because it was too far from where his family life is. He had a child in school in Walkinstown, he said.
In court documents, Mr Griffin said he has lived on the site since 2005, initially in a mobile home following separation from his partner and later in a timber cabin erected in 2008, which he regards as his family home.
At the time he did not believe he needed planning permission for the cabin, similar to many in the area, he said. He previously claimed he would be left destitute if the structure was taken down.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Hedigan ordered that Mr Griffin be sent to Mountjoy Prison for two months or until he has purged his contempt. This was “a very sad” situation which the council had made “concerted efforts” to resolve, the judge said. Mr Griffin’s reason for refusing the council’s offer of a house in Skerries was “not acceptable”, he added. The local authority and the court was not there just to satisfy Mr Griffin, the judge said. Mr Griffin’s cabin was clearly “in violation” of planning laws and orders of the court had to be followed.
If Mr Griffin does not purge his contempt, he should be brought before the court in two months’ time to review the situation, the judge said. He said if Mr Griffin does not demolish the cabin in two months’ time, he would go to prison for another two months.