Ref. 25001-662EVICTION FEATURE: IN August, 34-year-old Vincent O'Halloran was ordered to leave his fourth floor council flat in Milverton Court, Park North.

In January last year the council wrote to him saying it would be taking legal action following a string of complaints.

These included playing music at top volume and making threats, both written and verbal.

Mr O'Halloran, a self-confessed alcoholic, said he drank and listened to music to forget about the death of his brother in 1999.

This plunged him into a spiral of drinking, and he confessed to getting drunk at 8am.

His lawyer said his alcoholism could be classified as a disability, and that he should be protected under the 1996 Disability Act, but the court rejected this argument.

But, although he had received the council's letters threatening legal action and possible eviction, he did nothing about them because he underestimated their importance.

In August last year Mr O'Halloran said: "I was looking at it like it was just a civil action. But it is a lot more serious than that."

He was also banned from entering the immediate area surrounding Milverton Court for three months after the eviction.