My home is gone, Cork mother tells court

A mother jailed for contempt of a court order requiring her hand over possession of her home to a bank has told the High Court her home “is gone” and she has “nothing to purge at this stage”.

“I am not a criminal. I never did anything wrong in my life. I am forced into this position,” Claire Knowles told a High Court judge at the Four Courts yesterday.

Ms Knowles, on bail pending the outcome of an inquiry into the legality of her detention in Limerick Prison, told Mr Justice Richard Humphreys and a courtroom packed with her supporters yesterday she is “a mother and grandmother” who worked for “the State airline” for years, was never in prison before, and was entitled to natural justice and fair procedures.