‘Millionaire’s Row’ couple ordered to pay £50,000 over neighbour dispute

Guy Ker and his partner Rue Swabley had pursued the row since 2016

Guy Ker, photographed in 2014 when he spoke to the Oxford Mail about a mystery tyre slasher in Charlbury. (Oxford Mail / SWNS)

A ‘Millionaire’s Row’ couple has been blasted by a judge and ordered to pay £50k costs for taking their neighbour to court - as part of six year row over access to an orchard.

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

The dispute was sparked when the couple claimed their neighbour Cartin 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 cement mixer over the track on the road, where this year house prices averaged £1.1m.

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 (December 21).

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

Ms Weston's house which has the side access ( SWNS)

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.

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 access to the orchard ( SWNS)

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.”

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.