logo
Accountant forced to rip out central heating after neighbour row backfires

Accountant forced to rip out central heating after neighbour row backfires

Telegraph06-05-2025

An accountant was forced to rip out the central heating from her Oxfordshire cottage after a row with her neighbour backfired, a court has heard.
Helen Faber sued her neighbour over a 'nuisance' fence which she claimed had encroached on a shared path by 40cm.
But the legal action had a counterproductive result when a judge threw out her claim and instead found she had herself encroached on the path with a patio and oil central heating pipe.
Ms Faber and her husband, Dominic Miles, were ordered to rip up the patio and the pipe – rendering their central heating useless – at Oxford County Court.
The couple are now challenging the ruling at the High Court.
Mr Justice Richard Smith heard last week that Ms Faber and Mr Miles own the £375k Pear Tree Cottage in Wardington, Oxfordshire, which has right of way on a footpath owned by Richard and Katherine Reid, who live next door at Forge Cottage.
In 2021, the couple returned to the countryside cottage from France to find a fence put in by Mr and Mrs Reid had 'narrowed' the 4ft-wide path by 40cm.
They said the fence was a 'nuisance' because it would make it more difficult to carry a 'large picnic tray laden with food and drinks...without spilling the drinks' to a patio at the rear of their garden.
Ms Faber and Mr Miles brought a claim at Oxford County Court claiming that the new fence was a 'substantial interference' with their use of the shared right of way.
But the move backfired when judge Melissa Clarke ruled there was no 'nuisance' and also found they had installed a patio and oil pipe that constituted 'trespasses' on the footpath.
'An oil line running from an oil tank in the Pear Tree Cottage second garden is on, over and under parts of the right of way,' judge Clarke told the hearing.
'The claimants now accept that the right of way is owned by Forge Cottage. The installation by the claimants of an oil line over the right of way is a trespass on the land of Forge Cottage and the defendants are entitled to an injunction requiring the claimants to remove it.'
She said the pipeline is 'susceptible to damage' and that, if damaged, any oil leaks would contaminate Mr and Mrs Reid's land, which is a risk they 'should not have to tolerate from trespass'.
Last week, Stephen Taylor, for Ms Faber and Mr Miles, argued that Judge Clarke made the wrong decision. He said that the couple had informed their previous neighbours at Forge Cottage before installing the heating system and they had not objected.
He insisted that means their current neighbours cannot now demand its removal.
The court heard that there is no gas supply in the village and that Mr Miles and Ms Faber claim 'modern' heating systems such as heat pumps are 'not suitable for use in a stone-built property more than three centuries old.'
He also claimed the judge was wrong in defining the boundary so that part of Ms Faber and Mr Miles' patio was on their neighbours' land and deemed a 'trespass' which would have to be removed.
However, Anya Newman, representing Mr and Mrs Reid, argued that Judge Clarke was right in her ruling at the county court and that the fence should stay and the patio and pipe should be removed.
'The dispute arose after the respondents (Mr and Mrs Reid) replaced an old fence at the rear of their garden,' she said.
'It was agreed that the route of the fence was somewhat different to the previous fence, it is now dog-legged instead of running at one angle.
'After initially being happy with the replacement fence, the appellants raised issue about its positioning.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sick robbers who broke into war veteran's home and threatened him with a knife before taking off with his MEDALS are jailed
Sick robbers who broke into war veteran's home and threatened him with a knife before taking off with his MEDALS are jailed

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Sick robbers who broke into war veteran's home and threatened him with a knife before taking off with his MEDALS are jailed

A pair of robbers who broke into the home of a vulnerable war veteran and threatened him with a knife before stealing his medals have been jailed. Peter Ratcliffe, 48, and Ann Marie Simpson, 38, broke into the pensioner's accommodation in South Shields in July 2023. They pushed the elderly man to the floor and threatened him with a knife before stealing his prized possessions including his bank cards, his passport and his wedding ring. The robbers also made off with the veteran's war medals. The victim was not left with any serious injuries but was extremely shaken and traumatised from the robbery, a court heard. Ratcliffe and Simpson were identified by CCTV and were arrested just hours later. Officers found clothing which matched the outfits being warn by the robbers on the CCTV footage, Chronicle Live reported. They were both charged with robbery and remanded into custody the following day. Earlier this year, both pleaded guilty at Newcastle Crown Court. Ann Marie Simpson, 38, was sentenced to five years and four months imprisonment after pleading guilty to robbery and witness intimidation Simpson also admitted one count of witness intimidation after she sent a letter to the victim telling him to drop the charges against them. On Friday, both were both jailed at a sentencing hearing at Newcastle Crown Court. Ratcliffe, of Trinity Walk, South Shields, was sentenced to seven years and four months behind bars. Simpson, of Johnson Street, also South Shields, was sentenced to five years and four months imprisonment. Both were given a ten-year restraining order, preventing them from contacting the victim. Sergeant Kimberley Ball, of Northumbria Police said: 'This was a cruel and targeted attack on an elderly man in his own home – because of his vulnerabilities. 'I want to thank the victim for his patience and courage throughout this entire process, which I know has been extremely difficult. 'I have no doubt the streets of South Tyneside are safer now these two criminals are behind bars where they belong.'

Six members of ­Russian spy ring to have ‘too lenient' jail sentences reviewed
Six members of ­Russian spy ring to have ‘too lenient' jail sentences reviewed

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

Six members of ­Russian spy ring to have ‘too lenient' jail sentences reviewed

SIX members of a ­Russian spy ring are to have their jail sentences reviewed for being too lenient, we can reveal. The Bulgarians — who lived and worked in ­the UK — plotted sex stings, and targeted Russian ­dissidents and journalists critical of President Vladimir Putin 's war effort against Ukraine. 7 7 The ring included lab worker Katrin Ivanova, 33, and beauty shop owner Vanya Gaberova, 30 — dubbed 'killer sexy brunettes' by cell leaders. Ivanova got nine years and eight months and Gaberova eight years. They were both found guilty in March of breaching the Official Secrets Act by conspiring to provide information useful to an enemy between August 2020 and February 2023. Ivanova also got a concurrent sentence of 15 months for forged ID documents. All six got a total of more than 50 years last month. The Attorney General's Office has been asked to consider the sentences under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. The ULS scheme allows anyone to ask for a Crown Court sentence to be assessed by the Attorney General's office if they think it is too lenient. Law officers have 28 days from sentencing to make a decision. 7 7 7 7 7

Sheku Bayoh: Hearing to decide whether chair should resign begins
Sheku Bayoh: Hearing to decide whether chair should resign begins

BBC News

time2 hours ago

  • BBC News

Sheku Bayoh: Hearing to decide whether chair should resign begins

A former judge who is chairing a £50m public inquiry into the death of a man in police custody will hear arguments on Thursday on whether he should step down or see the job Scottish Police Federation has accused Lord Bracadale of holding "secret" meetings with the family of Sheku Bayoh, who died after being restrained by police in Kirkcaldy in organisation which represents rank and file officers believes the five meetings could lead to "perceived bias" and has called for him to "recuse" Bracadale has been leading the inquiry since 2020 and ordered the hearing to allow core participants to make submissions on his conduct. If Lord Bracadale decides to stay in post, the federation has said it will seek a judicial departure and the search for a last minute replacement after five years of work would delay the inquiry's findings by many has already cost the public purse £24.8m, with an additional £24.3m spent by Police Scotland, including £17.3m of legal stage is now set for a robust exchange of legal arguments between senior lawyers. Roddy Dunlop KC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, will represent the police federation and two of the officers involved in the incident which ended with Mr Bayoh's police federation has said that none of the other core participants were made aware that Lord Bracadale was meeting the family and the details of what was said have not been federation's general secretary David Kennedy has said it has lost confidence in the inquiry because not all core participants were being treated Bayoh family's solicitor Aamer Anwar has described the federation's actions as "a pathetic and desperate attempt to sabotage the inquiry" at the 11th claimed the hearing could cost taxpayers "in excess of a million pounds" in fees for "police lawyers." Competing arguments One of England's top barristers, Jason Beer KC, has been brought in as senior counsel for the inquiry is expected to argue that Lord Bracadale's actions were procedurally appropriate because of the importance of maintaining the family's prosecution service, the Crown Office, will state its position, along with Police Scotland, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner and the Commission for Racial Equality and representing other police officers involved in the case will also have the opportunity to have their hearing is scheduled to last two days, with Lord Bracadale issuing his decision at a later inquiry has been examining what happened before and during the death of Sheku Bayou, who died in police custody. It has been looking at how the police dealt with the aftermath, the investigation into Mr Bayoh's death and whether race was a of the public called the police after Mr Bayoh was spotted carrying a knife and behaving erratically in the streets of Kirkcaldy on May 3, wasn't carrying the knife when officers arrived at the scene but a violent confrontation followed, with up to six officers restraining the 31-year-old on the father-of-two lost consciousness and later died in hospital.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store