Tippett, Pires in ugly tenancy battle

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Nt.news.com.au - MEAGAN DILLON - January 4th, 2013 

PROMINENT Darwin barrister Jon Tippett QC will face court next week for allegedly squatting in his mother-in-law's home. 

Pensioner Maria Pires, 73, is taking her daughter Angelita - who was acquitted of conspiring to kill East Timorese president Jose Ramos-Horta - and her husband to Darwin Magistrates Court over the tenancy dispute.

Court documents obtained by the NT News revealed the mother-of-seven has applied for the couple to be slapped with a domestic violence order so they will be forced to leave her house. The case is expected to be before the court next Friday.

The documents say Mrs Pires had been living in her home in Nakara, in Darwin's northern suburbs, for more than three decades and wants her house back.

A statement of claim also says Mrs Pires has applied for the order so her daughter - who ran against Mr Ramos-Horta in the 2012 East Timorese election but lost to Independent Taur Matan Ruak - could not "abuse" her.

Mr Tippett represented Ms Pires during her trial for conspiracy to kill in the Dili District Court in 2010. She is the former lover of East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, who was shot dead during an attack by rebel soldiers on Mr Ramos-Horta's presidential compound in 2008.

The family are no strangers to domestic violence orders. In 2010, the couple took out an order against Mr Tippett's ex-wife Vicki Nangala after she attacked him with a ceremonial samurai sword and threw a rock at Ms Pires.

READ: Ex-wife cuts loose over love triangle and Nangala escapes conviction

Nangala breached the order when she threw a large rock at Mr Tippett's car after he arrived home with Ms Pires. She escaped conviction for the breach.

Nangala breached the order again in 2011 but escaped conviction for a second time. The DVO has since lapsed.

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