Pat Kenny and wife 'annexed' property, court told

A retired solicitor has brought legal proceedings against his next-door neighbours - broadcaster Pat Kenny and his wife, Cathy - claiming that the Kennys have wrongly "annexed" a portion of his lands adjoining their home in Dalkey, Co Dublin.

It is also alleged the Kennys had sought to prevent Gerard Charlton gaining access to the lands in question last July and that, when he did gain access, they had bolted a gate, which prevented him leaving the property for some time.

Mr Charlton (72), Maple Tree House, Harbour Road, Dalkey, claims he agreed to permit Mr Kenny to replace a pedestrian gate at the entrance to the lands in question near Bulloch Harbour, referred to as the Gorse Hill property, which lands he claims he had permitted the Kennys to use since they had come to live beside him in 1988.

However, Mr Kenny had subsequently refused to give him the code for a digital keypad installed at the new electronic gate and had also sought on July 27th last to prevent Mr Charlton from gaining access to Gorse Hill, it is claimed.

Mr Charlton alleges that Mr Kenny and his wife, Cathy, behaved towards him on that occasion in a manner that was physically threatening, offensive and deeply upsetting. He said he suffers from cardiac problems and hypertension and the incident caused him anxiety and sleep difficulties.

It was that incident last July which triggered the beginning of legal proceedings, Mr Justice Peter Kelly was told yesterday.

Seeking to have the case admitted to the Commercial Court, which generally deals with commercial disputes valued at more than €1 million, Brian Murray SC, for Mr Charlton, said that while this was a dispute between neighbours, it was "not about garden gnomes escaping".

The defendants had "annexed" part of Mr Charlton's lands and the issue was about who owned those lands, counsel said. Land ownership was essentially a commercial matter and the lands had been valued as worth up to €1.5 million on the open market and more to a "special purchaser", an adjoining landowner with access to Gorse Hill.

Mr Kenny's valuation experts had disputed that valuation, saying the value was considerably lower than claimed.

Mr Lyndon MacCann SC, for the Kennys, argued this was a dispute between neighbours and inappropriate for the Commercial Court.

Refusing to admit the case, Mr Justice Kelly said it was about an "unfortunate dispute between neighbours" and the issue was whether Mr Charlton was the legal and beneficial owner of the lands. He said he believed the case would be more appropriately dealt with in the Circuit Court.

In his claim, Mr Charlton claims he and his wife, Maeve, acquired a leasehold interest in his Harbour Road property in 1971, which property included his home, Maple Tree House, the lands previously known as the Quarry Field and a small plot of land adjoining the Quarry Field, referred to as the Gorse Hill property.

By a deed of conveyance of June 30th, 1992, the Charltons bought the fee simple interest in the Gorse Hill property, it is also claimed.

Mr Charlton claims he and his wife have, at all material times since 1971, been entitled to the legal and beneficial leasehold, and subsequently the freehold, interest in the Gorse Hill property.

He and his family had used the lands over the years and, under an informal verbal arrangement, they had also permitted a neighbouring family access to the lands.