Construction boss and his wife in £250,000 court battle with village neighbours over claims they ‘invaded’ their garden to chop down 33-foot tall row of Leylandii trees

A construction magnate and his wife are locked in a £250,000 court battle with neighbors over claims they ‘invaded’ their garden and chopped down a 33-metre row of Leylandii trees.

Robert McCarthy and his wife Amanda accused their neighbors in Nazeing, Essex, of ‘systematically destroying’ their garden.

They told Central London County Court their privacy was ruined after a curtain of giant conifer trees behind their home was cut down.

Mr McCarthy said the trees, up to 33ft tall, were on his land and his neighbors had no right to cut them down, accusing them of ‘invasion’ during an argument over the location of the boundary between their gardens.

They also claim that the stress of the turf war has damaged their health.

But their neighbor Foulla Bowler, 60, and the two brothers who own the house insist the trees are actually in their garden and claim they want them removed because of ‘shading’ and potential damage to the water channel.

Now the McCarthys are suing for around £115,000 in damages, including the installation of a new Leylandii screen; In this case, the lawyers’ bills alone are expected to be more than £130,000.

McCarthy’s 33-foot row of Leylandii trees before and after felling along the location of the border between neighboring gardens

But Mrs Bowler and her siblings insist they have every right to remove trees ‘shading’ their property and are counter-claiming for more than £50,000 for damage to fences and shed caused by the dispute.

Judge Alan Saggerson at Central London District Court was told civil works manager Mr McCarthy, 59, and his carer wife Amanda, 61, bought their home in Common View, Bumbles Green, near Nazeing, Essex, in 2001.

To the rear of the house, which Ms McCarthy said had ‘a perfect, lovely garden’ when they moved in, is Ms Bowler’s home, known as Kormakitis.

Kormakitis was his parents’ home in his youth but he now lives there with his own family and owns the house together with his two siblings, John Barberis (63) and Mary Englishby (58).

Lawyer Christopher Coyle, on behalf of the McCarthys, told the judge the two gardens were divided by fences and there was a row of Leylandii trees on the McCarthys’ side.

The bitter boundary dispute erupted around 2018 when Ms Bowler and her siblings put the Leylandii on their land, claiming the dividing line was actually beyond hedges and trees.

And Ms Bowler had applied for permission to cut down 29 trees in 2018, despite knowing there was a dispute; before the family put this plan into action and cut down most of the trees in January 2022.

Mr Coyle said the cutting continued for a second day, despite the McCarthys appealing to the brothers through lawyers to stop the cutting.

Giving evidence, Mr McCarthy described it as an ‘invasion’ and complained about the ‘ruthless destruction of my 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,” he said from the witness stand.

‘I want my privacy back as it was before.’

He added that when the couple bought the house, they were led to believe that the fence beyond the trees was the boundary, making the trees part of their property.

“The trees were well established when we moved in,” he told the judge.

‘We thought the chain link fence was the boundary running along it. ‘I had no reason not to believe this was the limit.’

He said his wife had become ill and was on medication for a seven-year fight, which contributed to her own stress-related autoimmune disease.

‘We never tried to capture anything by land,’ he insisted.

‘All we ever wanted was the original fence boundary. ‘We didn’t say we wanted to move to Kormakitis’ garden.’

Foulla Bowler and his brother John Barberis. The brothers insist the trees are actually in their garden and claim they want them removed because they could ‘overshadow’ and damage the water channel.

Mr McCarthy claimed the stress of the years-long ordeal had led to stress-related health problems

Ms. McCarthy, who also testified, said that they relied on the sellers’ documents when purchasing the house and that it was stated that the trees were on their own land.

‘There were trees and a fence and we took that as the boundary,’ he said.

‘The trees were on our side. ‘The trees looked trimmed and well-kept when we moved in.’

The McCarthys are suing the three brothers for nearly £115,000 in damages; This included £73,500 to plant new trees and restore their privacy, as well as a declaration that the real boundary was the old fence line.

Neighbors insist they have every right to remove the fences and trees and are counter-claiming over £50,000 for damage to the fences and shed caused by the dispute.

Their lawyer, Gregory Dowell, said John Barberis helped his father plant Leylandii years ago, while others were later planted among them by the former owners of the McCarthy home.

But he told the judge that they were all in Kormakitis territory.

The court heard Ms Bowler, who first applied for the trees to be cut down in 2018, cited ‘excessive shading’ and ‘low amenity value’ as well as the potential for damage to the waterway.

But Mr Coyle told him in the witness box on behalf of the McCarthys: ‘You knew there was a dispute with the claimants over this land and yet you asked for permission to cut down 29 Leylandii trees.’

He replied: ‘On our land.’

To this Mr Coyle replied: ‘The plaintiffs say otherwise. ‘You were aware that there was a boundary dispute long before you approached the local authority to cut down the trees.’

His brother, Mr. Barberis, said he remembered being there in 1981 when their father discussed buying Kormakitis and hearing that the limit was a few meters beyond the fence.

“Some of the trees are missing, not all,” he added when pressed about the 2022 cutting. ‘These are the trees we planted and the fences we built.

‘I clearly remember what our parents gave [the previous owner] Let us cut our trees near him to prevent them from shading his garden.’

After a three-day hearing, Judge Saggerson postponed his decision on the case to a later date.