A couple who made unfounded claims the Taoiseach and other senior Irish officials were trying to murder them are to have a £1.6m (€1.8m) lawsuit struck out, the High Court in Belfast has ruled.

Zeus Mitchell and her husband Daniel Osula arrived in Northern Ireland alleging Leo Varadkar, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chief State Solicitor and judges in Dublin wanted them killed to conceal “a very serious crime”.

They sued a Northern Ireland Housing Executive representative and a service within a Health and Social Care Trust over how their baseless claims were dealt with.

But Master Bell, sitting at the High Court, granted applications by both defendants to have the actions against them dismissed for being frivolous and hopeless.

A new judgment sets out how Ms Mitchell and a son declared themselves homeless to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in February 2017.

She claimed Leo Varadkar had instructed other Government officials to murder her family in the Republic of Ireland, Master Bell noted.

Within a few days, temporary accommodation had been allocated to Ms Mitchell and her children.

Mr Osula then came to Belfast, met with Housing Executive officers and reiterated the allegations about Mr Varadkar, the Director of Public Prosecutions and other senior judicial figures.

Online Editors