Harry Potter actor Devon Murray has told the High Court he has not worked since his role in the popular movies.
The 27-year-old was giving evidence in a High court action by his former agent Neil Brooks, who is claiming he is owed unpaid fees.
This afternoon the actor, who played the part of Seamus Finnigan in the series, said he earns about €1,000 a month in residual fees.
His mother told the court that while he once had a good income stream from the movies at one point he had "gone out drinking, taken out girls and bought cars because that is what teenage boys do".
In evidence Mr Murray told the court he "absolutely adored" Mr Brooks with all his heart but their relationship "went pear shaped".
He said he spoke to him more often than he did to his own father when they were filming.
When his parents signed an agreement with Mr Brooks he believed if it had not been signed he could not have continued to work on the Harry Potter movies.
He said his parents had no legal advice and the agreement was signed in Mr Brooks' "dingy little flat". He said he was "forced into it".
He said everything went well for the first two movies but then things went pear shaped.
He said his cheques were being sent to one address and then another and another and he was weeks behind others in getting paid.
He also found out that all actors at his level were being paid the same whereas Mr Brooks had led them to believe he had specially negotiated an increase.
He also said he was devastated and hysterical when photographs of him smoking on set became public and he and his mother were told off by Warner Brothers publicity staff.
He said they tried several times to contact Mr Brooks during this time but he could not be found. When they did make contact with him "he did not care".
He said he became extremely annoyed and phoned Mr Brooks to tell him he wanted no further dealings with him.
The court was told the Murrays had employed solicitors to fight the case but could not longer afford to keep them on.
During cross examination Mr Murray denied that he had not told his solicitor all of the problems he was now claiming to have had with Mr Brooks.
Counsel for Mr Brooks, Gary McCarthy, said none of the complaints mentioned today were detailed in his legal defence to proceedings.
Mr McCarthy said it was "slightly remarkable" that none of these complaints were outlined on the first page of the defence.
He said in a dispute dating back ten years they seemed to be mentioned for the first time today.
He said the solicitor had found it difficult to obtain any meaningful information to enable them to prepare a defence and could not provide names of potential witnesses so they took themselves off the case.
He said in a dispute going back ten years there was not a word of what is now being put up as a defence.
In closing arguments Mr McGrath said Mr Murray had tried to dodge out of his obligations of the contract in an unlawful manner.
In her closing submissions Mrs Murray, who is representing the family herself, said her son had to live on something and only earned about €1,000 a month in residual fees.
She said she and her husband were in poor health and had only one income.
Asked by Judge Moriarty if her son once had a decent income stream from the movies, she said he had but he had "gone out drinking, taken out girls and bought cars because that is what teenage boys do.
Earlier his mother said she and her son were left in tears from a public backlash after photographs of him smoking on set at the age of 13 went worldwide.
During her cross examination of Mr Brooks, Mrs Murray said she had fired Mr Brooks because he was unavailable to them during a crisis.
She said her son had been filmed at age 13 smoking on set and she viewed this as a security breach.
She said the backlash from the worldwide publicity it received had left them in tears.
She said a 13-year-old was "having abuse heaped on his shoulders from all around the world" and there was no help from the agent.
She said she telephoned Mr Brooks, whose job it was to "protect and shield" her son from such things, and he could not help them because he was with a sick relative in South Africa.
Mr Brooks denied the conversation ever took place. He said he had not been asked for help at the time and asked "What could I have done?"
Mrs Murray said she found it hard to believe he did not know about it when it was in every newspaper and website.
She and her husband Michael Murray, of The Lawn, Oldtown Mill, Celbridge, Co Kildare, are also being sued as their son was a minor when he entered the contract with Brooks in 1999.
Mr Brooks is seeking €286,000 in what he claims are unpaid fees.
In a counter-claim, the Murrays seek the return of around €98,000 they say they paid Mr Brooks.
He told the court this morning that he met the Murrays in 1998 when they invited him to the premiere of Angela's Ashes.
He went on to secure auditions for Devon Murray and they were delighted to secure roles in the first two Harry Potter movies at a fee of €30,000 for each movie.
He said Mr Murray’s character became established and he was able to negotiate an increased fee for the next two movies of €50,000 and €65,000. He said at the same time he agreed with the Murrays that the percentage he received for his services would increase from 12.5% to 15%.
He said the actor's fee was usually paid to him and he would pass it on but in February 2004 the Murrays asked to be paid directly and promised to pay his fees.
He saw no problem with this as he had been dealing with them for a long time at that stage. He would receive cheques from them but at some point this stopped and then they stopped taking his calls.
He said he used another number to contact Devon Murray and was told "You've made enough money out of me, you dont need the money, if you have an issue talk to my solicitor".
Mrs Murray rejected this and said she had fired him over the smoking incident.
She asked if as an agent he ever had any dealings with Devon Murray while he was on set.
Mr Brooks said he had dealt with "demands" from the actor who did not want to stay in a five-star hotel but wanted his own apartment so his mother could cook meals for him.
He said he had also asked to be driven in a Lexus.
Mrs Murray said this was untrue. She said her son was a child who was and still is obsessed with cars and had mentioned that he would love a ride in a Lexus.
She said: "You jumped on that and said you would phone Lexus and see if you could get a car."
She said her son was the only cast member who did not have a regular driver and was driven by different people all the time.
She also said he was supposed to be taught Irish while he was away filming and there was no teacher made available after the first year.
Mr Brooks said if he had been made aware of any problems he would have attended to them.
Mrs Murray told the judge they were representing themselves because they could not afford to pay a solicitor and barrister. She said they could not even get a loan.
Judge Moriarty said this "mystified" him, given the sums mentioned during the case.
Mr Brooks claims Devon Murray earned a total of E1.2 million from his roles in the Harry Potter films.
He said he continues to earn money from appearances related to his role.
