Businessman avoids prison after paying out €1,500 child maintenance arrears

Gordon Deegan

A businessman has paid out €1,500 in child maintenance arrears to avoid being sent to prison – but only after a judge sent him to the courthouse cells for 30 minutes “to allow the man to reflect”.

At the Family Law Court, the man paid out the €1,500 in maintenance arrears for his two children after Judge Alec Gabbett said he was satisfied that the man has “significant funds” in his company account where the firm was able to generate average annual revenues of over €100,000.

In January, Judge Gabbett rejected the man’s court application to have the €300 maintenance per week reduced and told the man that he has a report "that tells me that you are living in a spacious five-bedroomed house and your ex-wife is living in a vermin-infested house with your two children”.

Prior to Judge Gabbett ordering the man into custody on Wednesday afternoon, the man was offering to pay €300 towards the arrears and was seeking a week to come up with a payment plan for the arrears.

Judge Gabbett told solicitor for the man, Tara Godfrey: “He is not going to fool me. His company could discharge the entire €1,500 liability if he wanted to.”

Ms Godfrey said that her client “is not going to take the money from the company to pay the arrears”.

In response, Judge Gabbett said: “That demonstrates to me exactly the nature of the man, and he is going to do exactly as he sees it.”

This man simply thinks he can do what he wants to do.

The judge continued: “I am not satisfied at all with €300, and I think it is time that he went into custody and saw the inside of a cell. This man simply thinks he can do what he wants to do.”

Judge Gabbett said all the “chaff” presented to him about the man’s personal finances “is designed to put me off the target and he is not going to put me off. I am on the target”.

“I want that money and I want it today. He is custody now, as far as I am concerned, and he can go to the cells.”

Judge Gabbett said that the man lives in a house valued at €370,000 and has “a healthy business”.

“There are sufficient funds in the company to discharge the order,” the judge said.

Judge Gabbett said that there was a significant amount of money in the company and “he is paying himself the minimum amount from the company to avoid paying maintenance”.

Ms Godfrey rejected that this was the case and the man told the court that he has paid himself the same wage for the past four years.

Ms Godfrey said the man had been paying the €300 in maintenance per week from November 10th to February 23rd and had been paying €150 a week since.

After a 20-minute adjournment after Judge Gabbett sent the man to the cells, Ms Godfrey returned to court to say that her client has been able to pay the €1,500.

Judge Gabbett said he was satisfied that the man has purged his contempt with the payment of €1,500 but said that he was concerned over the man's wilful contempt of the court offer prior to that.