Man accused of unlawfully living on ESB substation claims he has 'nowhere else to go'

High Court reporters

A man who the ESB claims is unlawfully residing on land that forms part of a Dublin substation has told the High Court that he has "nowhere else to go."

Glen Oglesby told the court that he had been living in caravan on the ESB's property at Gloucester Place Upper in Dublin 1 for some time.

He said he feared that if he had to leave the site he would end up living in homeless shelters and could end up taking drugs again.

Mr Oglesby said local people had not objected to his presence there. He also accepted that he was the owner of a Doberman Pinscher dog seen on the site.

He told the court the ESB had brought proceedings earlier this week against Paul Oglesby.

Mr Oglesby said Paul is his brother and is not the person residing on the property.

In response, John Punch SC for ESB, said his client had been given information that the person on the site was Paul and not Glen Oglesby.

His client had concerns that Glen Oglesby's admission might be some sort of manoeuvre to avoid compliance with a court order, and asked the court to add Glen Oglesby as a defendant to its action.

Mr Justice Mark Sanfey agreed that Glen should be added as a party to the action.

Noting Mr Oglesby's admissions to the court, and that he was representing himself in the action, the judge agreed to adjourn the matter to a date later this month.

The judge told Mr Oglesby that the situation was very serious and would need to be determined by the court relatively quickly

The judge also suggested to him that he have his response ready when the case returns before the court.

The ESB claims the site is not a safe place for anyone to reside, and it has never given anyone permission to reside in and around the substation.

The ESB says it has also placed signs up on the property directing any persons to leave the site which consists of a 38KV and a 10KV substation.

The ESB claims the site consists of an inner and outer compound, where the caravan is located, separated by fences and or walls.

The inner compound, the ESB says, is made up of highly dangerous live electrical apparatus.

The ESB says it has "grave concerns" about people having unauthorised access to the property.

There are also underground cables located in and around where the caravan has been placed, the ESB further claims.

As a result the ESB has sought various injunctions where it seeks vacant possession of the property.