Judge orders woman to sell her home

A deserted mother of two has told a judge she believed her husband bringing her a cup of tea in the morning was to keep her from the postman — and news their finances were on the rocks.

Karen Jepson said in the Circuit Civil Court it was only after her husband Ian went missing that she found the mortgage repayments were €43,000 in the red and he had a gambling problem.

“It was a shock to me to discover we were in arrears of €43,000 and that he hadn’t paid a penny off the mortgage since 2015,” a tearful Ms Jepson said yesterday as she pleaded with Judge Jacqueline Linnane to overturn a possession order.