A wealthy hotel construction boss and his wife have emerged victorious from a bitter six-year legal battle with their elderly neighbour over a farm gate.
Peter Leonard, 42, who runs Dublin-based MM Capital, and his partner Kelly, 46, took 80-year-old shepherdess Muriel Whiston to court over gates she installed to contain her Charolais sheep.
The couple claimed the barriers prevented Mrs Leonard from reversing her Land Rover out of their driveway at their £900,000 farmhouse in Baschurch, Shropshire.
The High Court has now dismissed appeals from both sides, with Mr Justice Michael Green upholding an earlier ruling that Ms Whiston must cover the Leonards’ legal costs.
The Leonards bought the 33-acre property in 2017 – which had previously belonged to Ms Whiston’s family.
When they moved in, a gate already existed across the track to prevent sheep escaping, but it was frequently left open.
Relations between the neighbours soured in 2020 when the couple complained via text that Ms Whiston was keeping the gate closed after moving her flock into nearby fields.
They alleged their £84,000 Land Rover Defender 130 could not be reversed out, forcing them to perform a “multi-point turning manoeuvre”.
The High Court has now dismissed appeals from both sides
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PADelivery drivers are said to have needed to reverse dangerously along the entire track.
The couple also accused the Charolais sheep breeder of behaving aggressively towards visitors and delivery personnel at their home.
Ms Whiston denied any interference with the right of way and launched a countersuit seeking to force her neighbours to keep their barn door closed, preventing their rescue animals from mixing with her sheep.
Birmingham County Court ruled in September 2024 that the gates could remain, but the sign demanding they be kept shut “at all times” was unreasonable.
NEIGHBOUR ROWS – READ MORE:
The neighbours took their case all the way to the High Court – all over a gate by their drive
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The judge ordered it be replaced with wording reading: “Please shut gate after use to prevent the escape of farm livestock.”
Ms Whiston was also prohibited from instructing delivery drivers or visitors about using the track beyond the gate.
Her request for an injunction regarding the barn door was refused.
Both parties subsequently appealed elements of the decision, but Mr Justice Green rejected all challenges.
Their total legal bills are expected to reach six figures.
Mr Justice Green said after the verdict: “It is most regrettable that this matter could not be resolved out of court and that there has been so much time and money spent in relation to this dispute, quite out of proportion to the issues at stake.”
The judge noted that Ms Whiston had not been found to be abusive or aggressive, but concluded she could “on her own admission be forthright and she does not mince her words”.
He described the Leonards as “clearly the winners in this case” when refusing Ms Whiston’s appeal against the costs order.