Definition of a tree stumps court in Rocca case

A JUDGE said it might be a case of not being able to see the woods for the trees when lawyers for Michelle Rocca and her neighbours squabbled over the legal definition of what was a shrub or a tree.

Ms Rocca, wife of singer Van Morrison, told the High Court she had “no confidence” in her neighbour’s proposed landscaping scheme to provide privacy for her home in Dalkey, Co Dublin.

She also said she had reluctantly taken proceedings against her local council over its alleged failure to protect her privacy through the planning system because she had “no other means” of protecting the amenity of her property and the privacy of her family.