Now it’s Harry Potter and the half-cut prince: Former child star spent £808k fees on drink, girls and cars, court hears

An Irish Harry Potter star who earned about £808,000 from the hit films blew his money on cars, drink and girls, his mother has told the High Court.

Devon Murray, 27, now has to live on just £970 a month from the films, a judge heard yesterday.

His mother Fidelma Murray told the court: ‘He was a teenage boy. He went drinking. He went out with girls. He bought cars. I only have one child. I wasn’t going to give out to him over that.’

Devon Murray, 27, pictured outside court wih his mother Fidelma and father MIchael, played wizard Seamus Finnigan in the Harry Potter films and is being sued by his agent

An emotional Mrs Murray also said her son ‘gets about £1,000 [€1,200] a month and that’s over all eight movies. He has to live on something.’

And she added that the family was also in financial difficulty, saying: ‘We almost lost our house. That’s why we had to move lately.’

Mr Murray is being sued by his former agent for a £230,000 slice of the fortune he earned from his role as schoolboy wizard Seamus Finnigan in all eight Harry Potter films.

His mother, who is representing the family in court, said they do not even have enough money to pay lawyers for the court case brought by Neil Brooks, the agent who was sacked by the Murrays.

‘Neither Michael [my husband] or myself or Devon finished secondary school,’ she added.

The case also heard claims of ‘demands’ made by the child actor when he was on the set of the hit movies – for a sound system in his trailer, his own apartment and to be driven in a Lexus – were also heard in court.

In evidence, Mr Brooks told the court that at one point the child actor had asked to swap his five-star hotel stays for ‘his own apartment with his family’ – with his mother cooking him meals.

The young actor’s mother Fidelma Murray revealed how she sacked her son’s Dublin-based agent Neil Brooks for failing to ‘shield’ her teenage son after pictures of him smoking emerged in late 2004

Under questioning from Mrs Murray, Mr Brooks said the boy also wanted to be driven in a Lexus as he had a ‘fixation’ with the brand of luxury cars.

To that, Mrs Murray retorted: ‘You phoned Lexus because you said, “We could get a car out of this”.’

The mother said: ‘We never had a driver. We were the only cast member who never had a driver.’

Her son was ten when he signed with Mr Brooks in 1998. At 12, he beat thousands of young hopefuls to win a part in the first Harry Potter movie, The Philosopher’s Stone. He held the role for a decade.

The High Court was also told yesterday how Devon was 13 and on the set of the Potter film The Goblet Of Fire in 2004 when he was photographed smoking.

Mrs Murray told the court this led to Devon breaking down in tears on the set before she decided to sack Mr Brooks, who had been in South Africa at the time looking after a sick family member.

In court she told Mr Brooks: ‘The problem was publicity. Pictures were taken of Devon while he was on set. These photos were of a child who had been smoking. It was in every newspaper.

‘I remember walking around on the set crying. And he [Devon] was crying… I said, “Okay, you’re fired.” I got angry and said, “You’re fired”. Then Devon told you, “You’re fired”… we were both crying.’

Mr Murray first signed with Mr Brooks, pictured at court, in 1998 when he was just 10. He went on to beat thousands of other hopefuls to win the part of Seamus Finnigan in the first Harry Potter film

Mrs Murray told Mr Brooks: ‘You were sacked because of a big problem worldwide that this 13-year-old child was having.

‘There was abuse being heaped on his shoulders all around the world and there was no agent there. Every newspaper, on the internet, photos of a child smoking. By the time we got to you we were crying... you were out nursing somebody else and we got in your way.’

When Mr Brooks asked Mrs Murray what he should have done at the time, she said: ‘I’m not saying it was your fault. I’m saying you should have been there to help him. You are supposed to stop the abuse he got from the publicity.’

Turning to Mr Justice Michael Moriarty, Mrs Murray said: ‘His job was to shield the child. That’s why he got the sack. He didn’t do it.’

In the civil action, Neil Brooks Management said it successfully negotiated for Mr Murray’s role in the first two Harry Potter films alongside headline stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

But relations with the family later broke down over alleged non-payment of commission fees, the court heard. It is alleged that Mr Murray ‘tried to dodge out of his obligations under the contract in an unlawful manner’ after the first four films, said Gary McCarthy SC, for the Dublin management firm.

Mr Brooks claims that Mr Murray and his parents broke an agreement to pay him commission fees of more than €286,000.

The Murrays, from Celbridge, Co. Kildare, are counter-claiming for more than €98,000 that they say they paid to the management firm.

In the civil suit, Mr Brooks says he was appointed sole agent for the actor in October 1998 under a commission-based agreement that entitled him to 12.5% for Mr Murray’s film and TV earnings.

It is claimed an increase in commission fees was later agreed – but the Murrays allegedly have failed to make such payments since around August 2005.

It is claimed in 2005, the actor told Mr Brooks: ‘You’ve made enough money out of me. You don’t need the money.’

Mr Murray told the court that Mr Brooks ‘was an idol for me’, but said: ‘He was the one that screwed up. I didn’t screw up.’

Mr Justice Moriarty is to give his judgement today. 

Lucrative: The young actor, pictured far left alongside Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire