Man who lived in his van in Cork town loses bid to avoid forfeiting vehicle to the state
Encho Kirilov had installed a postbox and was also keeping a bird coop around his Mercedes van when it was parked for more than a year in the carpark off a licensed premises in Bandon in Co Cork.
A man who lived in his van for more than a year has lost his bid to avoid forfeiting the vehicle to the state after gardaí claimed it was parked illegally on a roadside.
Encho Kirilov had installed a postbox and was also keeping a bird coop around his Mercedes van when it was parked for more than a year in the carpark off a licensed premises in Bandon in Co Cork.
But when the owners of the property installed new barriers he then moved it to a separate area nearby alongside the N71 road, with gardaí then moving to seize it when the 35-year-old failed to move it elsewhere.
Gardai had applied to have the vehicle forfeited to the state, which in turn was contested by Mr Kirilov at Bandon District Court.
Giving evidence before Judge John King, Sgt Ruairi Gunn said: “Encho Kirilov has been living in a van in various locations around Bandon for the last several years. In recent years it was in the carpark of the Ash Tree pub off the N71 on the Bandon to Clonakilty road.”
Photos of the location were provided to the court and Sgt Gunn said the owners of the property erected barriers last April/May.
Following this Mr Kirilov moved the vehicle outside the barriers.
“Mr Kirilov erected a post box on a wall close to the van and put a deck chair out in front of the van, and a bird coop in the front where he was keeping birds,” Sgt Gunn said.
However, Sgt Gunn said on inspecting the area where the van had been moved to he believed it was in contravention of the Roads Act, which prohibits temporary dwellings in road areas and which covers areas including road margins, lay-bys and hard shoulders.
He said he spoke to Mr Kirilov on June 29 last, outlining the belief that he was in breach of a section of the Act, and that he again spoke to him on August 10, at which point he provided him with a copy of the relevant legislation. On both occasions Mr Kirilov said he would respond via letter.
Sgt Gunn said on August 17 he organised the removal of the van and contacted the ISPCC regarding the birds. An ISPCC official visited and removed the birds on welfare grounds.
Mr Kirilov was informed that the vehicle would be seized and told he could take what he wanted from it. The van was taken to a secure compound and Mr Kirilov was free to claim it subject to charges within one month, with Sgt Gunn saying additional grace was allowed regarding the timeframe.
When the van was not reclaimed gardaí instigated the application to have it forfeited to the state.
Solicitor for Mr Kirilov, Killian McCarthy, suggested photos showed the van was moved to parking spaces that were delineated by white lines and also said gardaí had contacted his client by mail by posting letters to ‘the yellow van, the Ash Tree’.
Insp Emmet Daly said any correspondence sent to Mr Kirilov was purely a means of finding him - “it is not a voter register,” he said.
Judge King noted that the summons referred to ‘no fixed abode’.
Sgt Gunn said complaints had been received by members of the public regarding the location of the vehicle and that the Act outlined how the area was covered by the legislation.
He also said the barriers erected and the property owners marked where they believed the private carpark ended and the public area began. Mr McCarthy said that was a matter of speculation.
Mr Kirilov, who now lives in Kilbrittan, told the judge he had stayed in his van in the carpark for a year and three months before the erection of the barriers, after which he moved it. He told the judge he considered the area to which he moved the van a car park.
However, he also said he believed it was a public space, with Insp Daly putting it to Mr Kirilov that he was in agreement that it was a public road.
Judge King said the case had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt and added: “You can’t park in places on the side of the road in places where people who are weary may stop and take a rest.”
He granted the order sought by gardaí, outlining how Mr Kirilov himself had said he believed the area was public property.
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