Son ordered to repay €192,000 to mother’s estate after withdrawing money when she was ‘elderly and infirm’

Mr Justice Brian Cregan said Dermot Horan had, in a series of “disturbing and indefensible” actions, taken advantage of his mother’s inability to manage her own affairs.

The judge said Mr Horan, after getting control of the finances of his mother Mary Ann (also known as Maureen) Horan, withdrew €700 in cash from ATMs every day over a 12-month period.

“His use of that money for his own ends shows a devious attempt to take advantage of his elderly and infirm mother for his own financial ends,” said Judge Cregan.

The judge ordered him to repay the €192,000 after finding Mr Horan exerted actual undue influence over his mother, who had lived in Ramor Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin. She died in April 2018.

The orders were made following an application by a court-appointed administrator of Ms Horan’s estate.

The court-appointed administrator sought declarations that Mr Horan unlawfully set up a joint account with his mother when she was suffering from dementia, and unlawfully withdrew the monies.

The judge said Ms Horan, in a 2006 will, left her estate of €6m to her four children: Dermot, Josephine, Stephen and Yvonne.

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The principal asset was a substantial industrial property at Fonthill Industrial Park, Clondalkin, Dublin, from which she got a gross annual rental income of €264,000.

She left the family home in Ramor Park to Dermot Horan as well as the entire shareholding, worth around €500,000, of the family company, Westwood International Transport Ltd.

The company had been set up by her late husband but later virtually ceased trading.

In all, Dermot Horan was left €1m from the estate along with 25pc of the remaining assets.

The court appointed a solicitor as administrator after Josephine, Stephen and Yvonne sought Dermot’s removal as executor on misconduct grounds.

There had been a “history of considerable acrimony” between Dermot Horan and his siblings, Mr Justice Cregan said.

The judge had “no doubt that the blame lies entirely with Mr Dermot Horan” through conduct that began to manifest itself around September 2014, when his mother was admitted to hospital complaining of abdominal pain and back pain.

Mr Horan did not agree that she should have been in hospital. She remained there for 329 days until he discharged her against medical advice in July 2015.

Despite repeated requests from the hospital to return with her, and despite suggestions from his siblings that their mother get 24-hour care at home, Mr Horan refused, the judge said.

Ms Horan was readmitted to hospital in September 2015 after a fall. In the meantime, the siblings became so concerned at the way Dermot Horan was looking after their mother that they applied, and were granted, an order that she be made a ward of court.

Four different doctors gave evidence in the wardship proceedings that Ms Horan was suffering from dementia.

While a social worker and public health nurse found no evidence of any immediate risk to Ms Horan, and that she presented as being well cared for (by Dermot Horan), the condition of the house “left something to be desired and the kitchen appeared to be in an unhygienic state”, the judge said.

Mr Horan contested each and every one of the medical reports and sought to argue that there was nothing wrong with his mother.

In the proceedings seeking the return of the €192,000, Mr Horan said he believed “there is effectively an industry involved in this whole situation to make elderly people and/or vulnerable people subject to the interests of the State”.

In mid-2016, Ms Horan was transferred from the hospital to a nursing home. However, Mr Horan’s behaviour when visiting his mother in the nursing home, including “assisting” other patients, became of such concern to its operators that they got an injunction preventing him from visiting.

Mr Justice Cregan made an order also removing Mr Horan as a trustee.

The judge heard evidence from Mr Horan, in which he claimed the money he withdrew was used to pay for machinery as well as security for a company trade yard on the Navan Road.

The judge was satisfied Dermot Horan was not a credible or reliable witness.