Mother and son given three months to fix criminal damage to lands in Cork they didn’t own

The court heard the contractor hired to do the work was entirely unaware of the circumstances and believed the Hollands owned the land

At Clonakilty District Court (pictured), Judge James McNulty was told Mrs Holland had argued that her sister had sold her share of the property a number of years ago, in a situation described by her own barrister as “going back a number of decades”. Photo: Dan Linehan

A mother and son who paid a contractor to unknowingly cause almost €16,000 in criminal damage to lands they didn’t own have been given three months to repair the site.

James Holland, aged 35, and his mother Sarah, aged 68, both of Rathrout, Ballinadee, Co. Cork, had hired the contractor to conduct works at the lands at Templebryan South near Clonakilty in 2020, despite it being owned by Pike Construction.