A 15-year dispute between neighbours in west London over guttering and property boundaries has come to a head, with one party ordered to pay £150,000 in legal costs.
Celia Tan, a translator, has been embroiled in a bitter feud with her neighbours, Robert and Helena Flach, over claims that the couple’s gutters dumped rainwater onto her garden.
The row, which began in 2009, escalated to include allegations of harassment and arguments over the precise location of the boundary between their properties.
Central London county court judge Alan Saggerson has dismissed Tan’s case, criticising her for “indescribable silliness” and being “psychologically incapable of acting reasonably”.
However, the legal saga is set to continue as Tan vows to appeal the ruling to the High Court.
Tan claimed the boundary between the properties ran through the middle of the Flachs’ garage extension wall, while her neighbours insisted it was a few inches beyond.
She also accused the Flachs of using their teenage daughter’s “deafening drumming” to annoy her.
The Flachs alleged that Tan had ripped out their gutter and repeatedly painted or affixed her door number on their side of the front fence.
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Judge Saggerson oversaw a range of claims and counterclaims, including arguments over rainwater nuisance and numerous allegations of harassment.
The judge noted that tensions arose in 2009 when Tan and her daughter moved into their two-bedroom house, valued at around £700,000, next to the Flachs’ £1.2 million property.
Judge Saggerson described her as “passive aggressive” and “not a reliable or accurate witness”, stating that she was “clearly just making things up as she went along”.
The judge dismissed Tan’s claim for damages as “largely an exercise in fiction” and “a retaliatory and spiteful series of inventions”.
Saggerson concluded that Tan’s conduct over many years demonstrated her psychological inability to act reasonably.
However, the judge also partially criticised the Flachs, describing their actions as “not always and in every respect… impeccable”.
The Judge said that it was “unwise” of them to allow their daughter to use an extension room for drumming practice, describing the noise as “irksome repetitive thuds”.
The row, which began in 2009, escalated to include allegations of harassment and arguments over the precise location of the boundary between their properties
PA
He noted that they could have prevented gutter problems with closer attention to their property.
However, he concluded that this did not constitute harassment or a nuisance.
Judge Saggerson ordered Tan to pay an estimated £150,000 in legal costs incurred by the Flachs.
