'Millionaire's Row' couple are ordered to pay £50K to their neighbour

Couple on ‘Millionaire’s Row’ who accused their neighbour of waging a ‘relentless campaign’ to block access to their ORCHARD are ordered to pay £50K in costs as judge throws out claims for having ‘no relation to reality’

• Guy Ker and partner Rue Swabey were ‘blinkered’ in pursuing the row since 2016
• Couple claimed neighbour Catrin Weston had ‘persistently’ blocked the track
• They alleged that Ms Weston had ‘placed bins’ and parked vehicles over the track

A couple on ‘Millionaire’s Row’ who accused their neighbour of waging a ‘relentless campaign’ to block access to their orchard have been ordered to pay £50,000 in costs.

Guy Ker and his partner Rue Swabey were ‘blinkered, obsessive, and unreasonable’ in pursuing the row since 2016, a court ruled.

The dispute was sparked when the couple claimed their neighbour Catrin Weston had ‘persistently’ blocked the track leading to their orchard on Pound Hill, Oxfordshire.

They alleged that Ms Weston had ‘placed bins’, parked vehicles and ‘authorised contractors’ to park skips, vans and a cement mixer over the track on the road, where this year house prices averaged £1.1million.

Guy Ker and his partner Rue Swabey were ‘blinkered, obsessive, and unreasonable’ in pursuing the row since 2016, a court ruled. Pictured: Catrin Weston’s house which has the side access

The dispute was sparked when the couple claimed their neighbour Ms Weston had ‘persistently’ blocked the track leading to their orchard on Pound Hill, Oxfordshire. Pictured: Mr Ker and partner Ms Swabey’s house

However, following two days of evidence and legal submissions at Oxford County Court, Judge Melissa Clarke threw out all but one of the more than 60 allegations of ‘substantial interference’ with the couples’ right of way on the track yesterday.

She also refused to make an injunction in favour of the couple and prevented Ms Weston from ‘interfering’ with the right of way, fearing it could be used ‘as a weapon’.

Judge Clarke accused Mr Ker, who had been caught on camera ‘throwing’ his neighbour’s bins into a hedge, of ‘speechifying’ in his evidence during the trial.

Some of his evidence, including his claim that his neighbour had orchestrated a ‘relentless campaign’ to block their access to the orchard, was dismissed by the judge as bearing ‘no relation to reality’.

She said if there was a relentless campaign, it was by Mr Ker and Ms Swabey’s ‘controlling of the track in an attempt to entirely control Ms Weston’s use of it.’

Despite not owning the track to their orchard, they had placed a gate across it.

‘Of course, it is not their track to control,’ the judge added.

Mr Ker, photographed in 2014 when he spoke to the Oxford Mail about a mystery tyre slasher in Charlbury

They alleged that Ms Weston had ‘placed bins’, parked vehicles and ‘authorised contractors’ to park skips, vans and a cement mixer over the track on the road, where this year house prices averaged £1.1million

She also accused the claimants of taking a ‘blinkered, obsessive and unreasonable’ approach.

And noting that Mr Ker had continued to report the alleged ‘obstructions’ to police as a way of ‘logging’ them, even after being told by police it was a civil matter, Judge Clarke said the man ‘did not seem to see any issues with wasting police resources’.

The couple were even caught out ‘manufacturing’ evidence of the matter.

One example being a photo showing Ms Weston’s car being parked across the track, with Mr Ker’s orange vehicle trying to gain access to the orchard.

However, CCTV footage from Ms Weston’s property showed a ‘different reality’, the judge said.

In it, she was seen unloading her shopping. Ms Swabey was said to have run to the house she shared with Mr Ker before, a few minutes later, the ‘orange car’ appeared.

In papers filed with the court, lawyers for the defendant accused Mr Ker and Ms Swabey of a ‘campaign of harassment.’

Some of his evidence, including his claim that his neighbour had orchestrated a ‘relentless campaign’ to block their access to the orchard, was dismissed by the judge as bearing ‘no relation to reality’

Judge Clarke noted she had seen videos of Mr Ker pushing Ms Weston’s bins into a neighbouring layby and hedge. 

Cross-examined earlier this week, he denied the behaviour until the videos were shown to him.

She ordered the claimants pay £50,000 towards Ms Weston’s legal fees, plus interest. They have 21 days to pay.

Ms Swabey declined to comment on the outcome of the case on behalf of herself and her partner at their home earlier today. 

Ms Weston was unavailable for comment.

One anonymous neighbour said that the case had been no surprise to them.

They said: ‘They’ve come after me before they started this new case.’

And describing the scale of their land holdings behind their property, the neighbour added sarcastically: ‘It must be a tough living up there with all that.’

They added: ‘Nobody has ever owned that driveway into the orchard as far as I’m aware, certainly not while I’ve lived here.’

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