Judge John Neilan has launched a stinging attack on bankers, warning that he will issue an arrest warrant for any banker or bank governor who frightens, intimidates, or threatens a person in debt.
He said he did not want to see people under such pressure that they might injure themselves or their families.
“I’m not going to have people taking their own lives or having sleepless nights as a result of the trials and tribulations of indebtedness,” he said.
People in debt should never be afraid to come before the court where they will be treated “with dignity and respect” that the banks don’t show.
“There are very few people who have the capacity to tell the banks that they are the little mud-slingers of life and the citizens are supreme,” he said at Mullingar District Court.
“The banks never complied with any rules or regulations,” he said. “They were masters under God.”
He made the comments as he dealt with a case involving a former developer who cannot pay for hardware he bought from a Longford shop.
Felim Heduvan, whose family home is at Rath, Ballyncargy, Count Westmeath is being pursued by Brian Fallon Hardware for a debt of €68,000 and his company Pentium Construction, has since gone into liquidation.
Now working as a caretaker, he told the court that he and his wife, a nurse, are “unable to make ends meet”.
He bought a family car to replace the jeep and BMW he was no longer able to run and took out a loan from the Credit Union to pay a childcare bill that had been run up.
He lived on credit cards for the year before he went into liquidation.
An investment home he is paying a mortgage on has been idle for a year, and tenants who have been in it for the last month have not paid their rent and are moving out on Saturday.
He himself is “owed a lot of money that I can’t get back in and never will get back in” and gave details of unsold developments and houses he had sold at a loss.
“I understand people are in the same trouble as myself,” he said. “If I could pay, I would.”
When the judge suggested he go to the bank and Credit Union to see if he can rearrange payments to free up cash to pay the hardware company, Mr Peter Jones solicitor indicated that while banks have obligations to their customers, when they are “behind the desk” and in their own quarters, things may be different.
Judge Neilan immediately threatened to issue warrants for the arrest of any banker or governor who threatens or bullies someone in debt.
“If there are bullyboys in any bank in this country, give me their name and I’ll issue a warrant and have them here by 2pm,” he said.
“I know many who seem to think there is no light at the end of the tunnel, they think banks have the upper hand,” he said.
“Banks do not have the upper hand.”
Telling Mr Heduvan to look after himself, he adjourned the case until July for negotiations with the banks.
