The appeals court has upheld the conviction of a landlord found guilty of burgling a property he had rented out and stealing his tenant’s belongings following a dispute over unpaid rent.

In its July 16 ruling, the court rejected all grounds of appeal, confirming the landlord’s conviction for the burglary and theft of items worth €2,850 from premises that had been leased as a nightclub.

In addition to the burglary and theft charges, the landlord had also been accused of extorting money from two people to whom he sold the tenant’s belongings after claiming they were his own. He was acquitted of those charges by the trial court.

According to the judgment, the landlord admitted changing the locks on the premises and selling the tenant’s belongings.

He claimed the tenant owed him rent and said he had informed him that the lease had been terminated and that the items would be sold to recover the debt, arguing he had acted in a “state of emergency”.

The court of appeal rejected that argument.

“It is obvious that the appellant, while being aware of the procedures he could take to restore his rights, chose to act in the manner he did,” the court said.

The court ruled that the claim that the situation was an emergency was unfunded, stressing that the landlord had the judicial remedy at his disposal and had not presented any evidence of irreparable damage caused by the tenant’s failure pay.

The appellant also argued that the trial court had wrongly assessed the evidence and failed to take proper account of his claim that he believed he was acting lawfully and had no intention to defraud.

The appeals court found all grounds of the landlord’s appeal to be unfounded and rejected the appeal in its entirety.