Brave medics who saved mum's life after she was smashed by two trains dedicate Who Cares Wins gong to her
999 HEROES Brave medics who saved mum's life after she was smashed by two trains dedicate Who Cares Wins gong to her
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Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Pensioner, 81, loses 'ridiculous' £280,000 neighbour row over 'inches' of land... after seven years of fighting
A pensioner has lost a 'ridiculous' £280,000 legal battle against her neighbour over a just a few inches of land. Christel Naish, 81, and her doctor neighbour Jyotibala Patel had been fighting over an inches-wide strip between their houses too narrow for a person to comfortably walk down. Ms Naish complained that Dr Patel's garden tap and pipe were 'trespassing' on her property in Ilford, east London and after several rounds of litigation, brought her case before the High Court. Senior Judge Sir Anthony Mann said in the High Court that the offending strip of land was 'not worth arguing about' and criticised Ms Naish for 'bringing litigation in to disrepute'. The decision marks the end of an seven-year legal battle started by Ms Naish after she returned to the property in 2001 following her father's death. It comes after a trial at Mayors and City County Court in central London, which last year ruled in Dr Patel's favour on the boundary issue - landing Ms Naish with more than £200,000 in lawyers' bills. Following the trial, the pensioner had been told to pay for 65 per cent of her neighbours' costs - amounting to about £100,000 - on top of the six-figure sum she ran up herself. The appeal is costing more than £30,000, the High Court heard, and Ms Naish's lawyers say there could be 'another £200,000' spent on a second trial if she succeeds. At the High Court, Sir Anthony criticised the parties for the 'ridiculous' row after hearing the tap and pipe issue which began the dispute did not even matter any more - with the tap having now been removed by Dr Patel. He told Ms Naish's lawyers: 'Hundreds of thousands of pounds about a tap and a pipe that doesn't matter - this brings litigation into disrepute. 'You don't care about the pipe and the tap, so why does it matter, for goodness' sake, where the boundary lies? It seems to me to be a ridiculous piece of litigation - on both sides, no doubt.' The court heard Ms Naish first moved into her semi-detached house as a teenager with her parents and, although she moved out, frequently returned as she worked from there in the family's tarmac business. She eventually moved back permanently after the death of her father in 2001, with Dr Patel and husband Vasos Vassili buying the house next door for £450,000 in 2013. The couple's barrister Paul Wilmshurst told the judge the dispute began due to Ms Naish complaining a tap and pipe outside their house trespassed on her land. He accused her of 'terrorising' the couple with 'petty and vindictive' complaints and that they felt forced to sue due to the 'blight' on their home's value caused by the unresolved row. At the county court, they said they owned the tiny gap between the houses created when previous occupants built an extension on a much wider gap in 1983. They insisted the boundary between the two properties was the flank wall of Ms Naish's house and not the edge of her guttering hanging above, as she claimed. After hearing the trial in 2023, Judge Stephen Hellman last year found for Dr Patel and Mr Vassili, ruling that Ms Naish's flank wall was the boundary and the couple owned the gap between the houses. However, he found against them on Ms Naish's counter-claim, under which she sought damages for damp ingress into her conservatory caused by the couple having installed decking above the level of her damp-proof course. The judge found that, although the damp problem was already in existence, the installation of the decking screed was a 20 per cent contribution to it and he awarded Ms Naish £1,226 in damages. But because he had found against her on who owns the gap between the houses, he ordered she pay 65 per cent of her neighbours' lawyers' bills. Concluding his judgment, he said: 'Now that the parties have the benefit of a judgment on the various issues that have been troubling them, I hope that tensions will subside and that they will be able to live together as good neighbours.' Ms Naish has continued to fight and took her case to the High Court for an appeal last week, with judge Sir Anthony asking why the neighbours were pressing on and demanding of Ms Naish's barrister David Mayall: 'What is the point of this litigation?' Mr Mayall replied: 'To be frank, two things - costs and the damp issue.' Dr Patel's barrister Mr Wilmshurst said the couple felt they had to fight to protect the value of their home. He added: 'It's because for many years the appellant has been making allegations about the trespassing nature of the [tap and pipe], thereby making it impossible for them to sell their house.' For Ms Naish, Mr Mayall argued that Judge Hellman's reasoning in finding that the boundary was the flank wall was 'fatally flawed' and should be overturned - although he noted a second trial in the event of a successful appeal would cost the parties 'another £200,000'. Mr Mayall said any 'reasonable purchaser' looking at the houses when they were first built and conveyed in the 1950s would have assumed that the boundary was the edge of Ms Naish's guttering, giving her a few inches of extra land. He added: 'The only proper conclusion that he could have come to when construing the original conveyance was that the boundary ran along the outermost part of the house as constructed, including the eaves, guttering and foundations.' For Dr Patel, who appeared in court, and Mr Vassili, who watched via a video link, Mr Wilmshurst said the appeal was a challenge to findings the judge was entitled to make on the evidence. He said: 'Overall, the judge did not overlook the contention of the appellant as to guttering, eaves and foundations - he considered it directly, evaluated it, and rejected it as being material to where the boundary was. 'The judge correctly held that the legal boundary was shown by the conveyance plans as running along the flank wall of [Ms Naish's house], not the outermost projection.' On the issue of what contribution to Ms Naish's damp her neighbours' decking screed caused, he added: 'There is no basis on which it can be properly said that the judge was wrong to find the concrete screed was only responsible for 20 per cent of the damp problems. 'The judge also carried out a site view and was in the best position to form an assessment of the evidence.' After a day in court, Sir Anthony reserved judgement on the appeal.
Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Tragic 15-year-old schoolboy took his own life with father's shotgun amid a 'perfect storm' of exam stress, breakup with girlfriend and struggles with ADHD, inquest hears
A private school pupil killed himself with his father's shotgun after a 'perfect storm' of GCSE stress, breaking up with his girlfriend and ADHD, an inquest heard. Jairus Earl was found by his father Philip in his office at their Dorset holiday home as they prepared to return to London for the 15-year-old to start his exams. The family had gone to their cottage near Sherborne for the Easter holidays to destress and took some shotguns with them for clay pigeon shooting. The inquest heard Jairus, who was feeling anxious and negative about his GCSEs, spent the mornings revising and did shooting and fly fishing with his father in the afternoons. But as they packed up the car to return home Jairus told his father he was going in to the toilet but instead went into the office where his father had his shotguns in cases. Mr Earl, a director of a construction company, was listening to music and so did not hear the gunshot but knew something was wrong when the family dog came out and 'looked very stressed'. Mr Earl, 56, went inside and found his son unresponsive in the office at about 3.45pm on April 14, 2024. Jairus was pronounced dead at the scene at 4pm. At his inquest the Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin raised concerns about possible gaps in gun licence laws that she will be making a prevention of future deaths report about to the government. While she recognised that Mr Earl was a responsible gun licence holder, she said there may be an issue about people keeping guns in second homes without the authorities knowing. She said there was also a concern about the lack of consideration for the mental health of other people in the same household as a licence holder. The Bournemouth inquest heard Jairus was 'very social and loved to have fun' but struggled with school and had been falling behind. He attended the £30,000-a-year Thames Christian School in Clapham, south London. He had been diagnosed with ADHD at 14 and was experiencing low mood and suicidal ideation but was seeing both a psychologist and a child psychiatrist in the months leading up to his death and his mood seemed to be improving. The family said Jairus had been affected by the Covid lockdowns, the first of which came when he was just two terms into secondary school and was 'extremely detrimental'. The Bournemouth inquest that Mr Earl's wife Sophie and daughter Lily had already returned to London by early April while he and Jairus stayed in Dorset for longer. Mr Earl said in a statement: 'In recent years things had become more stressful. He felt very negative about school, homework and exams. 'His self-esteem took a bad hit. He felt like no one believed in him or were on his side. 'He was facing GCSEs, which was overwhelming for him. He had concerns that he had been behind but wouldn't consider the possibility of repeating the year.' Mr Earl said he thought that pressure was a 'huge part of the final moment' and he was 'so triggered he made that terrible impulsive decision to take his life'. He added: 'The factors that collaborated to create a perfect storm were the breakdown of his relationship with his girlfriend, schooling and GCSEs, his struggle with ADHD and the fact it was coming with symptoms of depression and anxiety.' Ms Griffin recorded a verdict of suicide. She said: 'I have heard a wealth of evidence that indicates how much loved Jairus was. He was also a young man who in the later stages of his life was troubled. 'There is nothing in the evidence before me that indicates his father was anything but a responsible gun licence holder. 'Jairus said he was going to the toilet, that was sadly the last his father saw him alive. 'I don't know what happened from the moment Jairus' father last saw him and when he found him. There was no note left, no evidence of any messages or searching around what his intent might be. 'Jairus had a very good knowledge of guns…those that knew him best believe that he intended to end his life. 'I am satisfied he intended the consequences to be his own death.' Addressing her concerns about gun licence regulations, she said: 'I do have ongoing concerns about the lack of regulation, including the fact people may have a second residence where items are stored that may not be known to the authorities that needs to be known. 'When applications for licence are made at the moment there is no requirement to assess or access medical information for other persons residing in the property. 'I do intend to submit a report to the secretary of state for health and the Home Office to raise the concerns I have to the gaps in regulations.'
BBC News
42 minutes ago
- BBC News
Manchester City Council redactions 'delayed grooming cases'
Investigations into historical child grooming cases were significantly delayed because a city council heavily redacted pages of evidence, a report has found. His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found some material provided by Manchester City Council contained pages with only a few words visible on watchdog said this "made it impossible to assess the evidential value of the information" but said a new process had since been agreed to share City Council said "complex" rules about sharing personal data meant that prosecutions could have been jeopardised if some information had been included in the evidence. The information came to light as part of an inspection into Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) historical handling of child sexual exploitation cases, which found the force had made significant improvements after a series of damning reports into its handling of allegations. 'Particularly affected' The review by the HMICFRS was commissioned by Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, in 2024 to look at the "current and ongoing provision".The report noted how each of the 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester had its own agreement about what information would be shared with police."Some are willing to share all available information and do so promptly and without redactions," the review found."Others will only do so in accordance with strict rules on what can be included."This has led to significant delays in investigations and in the preparation of evidence for court."It noted how Operations Green Jacket and Bernese had been "particularly affected by these delays".Only one person has been convicted as part of Operation Green Jacket, which was launched six years ago to investigate child sexual exploitation in south Manchester in the early Bernese was set up to investigate child sexual abuse following the death of 15-year-old Victoria Agoglia in who was in care, died of a drugs overdose two months after reporting she had been raped and injected with heroin by an older man."Material provided by Manchester City Council took many months to arrive and was so heavily redacted that some pages contained only a few words," the report found."This made it impossible to assess the evidential value of the information."A Manchester City Council spokesman said the authority had been "committed from the outset" to bringing offenders to justice. The spokesman added: "The sharing of personal data is a complex legal area. Failure to follow the relevant guidelines correctly would risk such information being ruled inadmissible in court, serving to jeopardise prosecutions rather than to advance them."As this work has progressed, we've been able to develop information-sharing protocols with the police which have enhanced processes and been so successful that they have been adopted elsewhere."HMICFRS said GMP, the council and Crown Prosecution Service had since agreed a new way of working together."Investigators can view and assess unredacted documents remotely," HMICFRS said while this was "far more efficient and effective", it had meant the process had had to be started again. HMICFRS highlighted how GMP had made significant improvements in how it investigated child grooming watchdog found the force had a "strong multi-agency approach to investigating child sexual exploitation" and had "significant resources committed to support these investigations".It now has a specialist Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team with 98 dedicated staff, working with statutory and non-statutory agencies to support victims. 'Lost trust' HMICFRS also noted GMP had a "good strategic and operational leadership and governance arrangements in place for investigations".But there were "various training gaps" and previous failings had resulted in an "irrecoverable loss of trust".Speaking ahead of the publication of the report, former detective Maggie Oliver, who resigned from GMP over its handling of the Rochdale grooming cases, said: "They have been through the most horrific childhoods that you could imagine."They've got no reason to trust anybody but when they do put their trust in the system, it's unforgivable that they are failed again and again and again."Michelle Skeer, His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary, said: "We found that since 2019, when GMP started to review its non-recent child sexual exploitation investigations, the force has improved its understanding and approach to investigating allegations of child criminal and sexual exploitation."It is clear that the force has for many years been trying to provide a better service to those who have or may have experienced sexual exploitation."But for some, trust and confidence in the police had been lost, and the force would not be able to rectify their experiences."The Greater Manchester Combined Authority and The Crown Prosecution Service have been approached for comment. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
