Man who lost home and liberty over dispute with neighbours loses appeal
The Court of Appeal has upheld a 15-month prison sentence on a man who fell out with his neighbours. Mark Coates, from Robertsbridge, near Hastings, was sentenced to 64 weeks for contempt of court last September after he and his wife Louise became enmeshed in a boundary dispute with Janice Turner and Brian Greenwood. The two couples lived on either side of the party wall dividing a semi-detached building in Eatenden Lane. Coates received a separate prison sentence earlier this year.
Boundary disputes between neighbours are not unknown but this one reached a different level — as the Daily Mail reported in March 2024:
The story so far
- September 2022 After a five-day hearing at Hastings county court, Judge Venn ordered Coates to pay Turner and Greenwood £260,000 damages plus costs at the highest level. Coates was also ordered to remove various items and structures from his neighbours’ property and take down surveillance equipment.
- October 2023 Venn found that Coates had breached the court’s orders and sentenced him to 36 weeks’ imprisonment for contempt.
Continue @ A Lawyer Writes.
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