A COUPLE are suing their neighbours in a £250,000 row after claiming they “invaded” their garden and cut down a row of 33ft-tall trees.
Robert McCarthy, 59, and his wife Amanda, 61, are taking their neighbours to court over the alleged “systematic destruction” of their land in Bumbles Green, Essex.
They claim Foulla Bowler, 60 – and the two siblings she owns the house with – have ruined their privacy by hacking down several Leylandii trees.
Mr McCarthy says the trees, which lined the back of his property, were on his land and his neighbours had no right to cut them down.
The construction boss accused them of an “invasion” during the row over the position of the boundary between their gardens.
But Mrs Bowler and her relatives say the trees were on their land and were removed due to “overshadowing” and fears of damage to a water course.
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The McCarthys also both claim the stress of the neighbours’ row has ruined their health.
They are suing for roughly £115,000 in compensation, which would also go towards planting a new Leylandii screen.
The case is expected to run up more than £130,000 in lawyers’ bills on their side alone.
However, Mrs Bowler and her siblings insist that they had every right to remove the trees are counterclaiming for over £50,000.
They are claiming the fee for damage to fences and a shed they say resulted from the dispute.
Central London County Court heard Mr McCarthy and his carer wife bought their home in Common View in 2001.
The house, which Mrs McCarthy said had an “immaculate, very pleasant garden” when they moved, is bordered to the rear by Mrs Bowler.
Her property, known as Kormakitis, had been her home as a teenager, but she now lives there with her own family.
While Mrs Bowler lives in the home, she owns it along with her relatives John Barberis, 63, and Mary Englishby, 58.
Barrister Christopher Coyle, for the McCarthys, said the gardens were divided by a wire fence, with a row of Leylandii trees on his client’s side.
But the bitter row kicked off in 2018 when Mrs Bowler and her siblings claimed the dividing line was actually beyond the fence and trees.
If the claims were true, it would place the Leylandii trees on their land.
The same year, Mrs Bowler applied for permission to fell 29 trees.
And in January 2022, the family went ahead with the plan and started cutting down the large conifers.
Mr Coyle said the work continued into a second day, despite his clients issuing pleas to the siblings via lawyers to request they stop cutting.
Giving evidence, Mr McCarthy described it as an “invasion” and complained of a “relentless destruction” of his garden.
He told the judge: “This is how we feel as a family. I can stand upstairs in my house and they can see me walking around.
“I want my privacy back like I had. The trees were well-established when we moved in.
“We thought the chain link fence was the boundary as it ran along. I had no reason not to believe that to be the boundary.
All we have ever asked for is the original fence line boundary. We have not said we want to move into Kormakitis’ garden.
“We have never tried to land grab anything.”
He said his wife was on medication after getting ill due to the seven-year row and the stress had also contributed to his own auto-immune disease.
Mrs McCarthy said they had relied on the sellers’ documents when buying the house and it stated the trees were on their land.
She told the judge: “There were trees and a fence and we took that as the boundary.
“The trees were on our side. When we moved in, the trees looked trimmed and well cared for.”
The couple are suing the siblings for about £115,000 in compensation, including £73,500 to plant new trees and restore their privacy.
They also want a declaration that the true boundary is the line of the old chain link fence.
The barrister for Mrs Bowler and her siblings, Gregory Dowell, said Mr Barberis had helped his father plant the Leylandii many years ago.
More trees were later planted among them by the former owners of the McCarthys’ home, he added.
However, all of them were on the Kormakitis land, he told the judge.
When she applied for permission to fell the trees in 2018, Mrs Bowler had cited “excessive overshading” and “low amenity value”.
She also pointed to potential for damage to a water course.
But questioning her in the witness box, Mr Coyle said: “You knew there was a dispute with the claimants over this land.
“Despite that, you asked for permission to cut down 29 Leylandii trees.”
She replied: “Within our land,” to which Mr Coyle responded: “The claimants say otherwise.
“Long before you applied to the local authority for permission to cut down the trees, you were aware there was a boundary dispute.”
Her brother, Mr Barberis, said he was there in 1981 when their father discussed buying Kormakitis.
He said: “Some of the trees are missing, not all of them. These are trees that we planted and a fence that we put up.
“I clearly remember our parents giving [the previous owner] permission to trim our trees from his side to stop them overshadowing his garden.”
After a three-day trial, Judge Saggerson reserved his decision on the case until a later date.
