A man who is occupying the home of a dead Church Minister has been told to prepare himself to possibly go to prison when he appears in court.
John Doe, aka Daniel Greene appears at court in Letterkenny.
Daniel Greene has been living in the home of the late Very Rev Samuel Reede for a number of months.
He moved into the property in Newtowncunningham following the death of the 86 year old Anglican Reverend in 2010.
It was only last February when estate agents visited the site that they noticed ‘For Sale’ signs had been removed from the property.
The locks of the house had also been changed and a sign saying ‘No Trespassing’ had been placed in the window.
The proceeds from the sale of the house, which had been left to the dead man’s brother Charles, were to be divided between three local charities.
Barristers and Gardai were initially unable to discover the identity of the man living in the property and he was referred to by the courts as John Doe.
A barrister representing the family of the late Rev Reede won an order for vacant possession of the lands and the bungalow and an injunction against ‘John Doe’.
Mr ‘Doe’ was eventually brought before Letterkenny Circuit Court where he told Judge John O’Hagan that his name was Daniel Greene.
He claimed he has bought the house and had legal documents to prove this.
Judge O’Hagan adjourned the case until August to allow Greene to hand in his documentation but the case was again adjourned until yesterday at Letterkenny Circuit Civil Court.
Solicitor for the late Rev Reede’s family, Ms Fiona Brown said yesterday that she had tried to serve papers on Greene but they had been returned to her office.
Judge Petria McDonnell told Ms Brown to serve the papers on Greene, 51, again and not to place them in an envelope.
“I am a firm believer in not using envelopes,” said the Judge.
She instructed Ms Brown to inform Greene that Gardai will be collecting him to appear in court this Friday to put the allegations to him.
“Gardai will be calling to collect him on Friday and the court will decide if he will go to prison so he might want to make the necessary arrangements,” warned Judge McDonnell.