An international lawyer who claims that his human rights have been infringed because his neighbour, the Sultan of Brunei, has been allowed to install security gates at his Hampstead home, whereas he has been refused permission for a pair of similar gates, is to take his case to the European Courts.
Hamid Sabi, whose wife and sister were mugged in the driveway of his family home in Winnington Road, London N2, has set his sights on the European courts after failing in the latest round of a long-running legal dispute over the security gates.
Jackson J today rejected Sabis argument that there had been unfair discrimination in respect of the grant of planning permission for elaborate gates at three of the Sultan of Bruneis homes in the same area.
Sabi, 54, had claimed that this constituted discrimination by heritage, but Jackson J said that, as the Sultan is a head of state, there were doubtless security interests that influenced the decision. The judge upheld an enforcement notice issued by Barnet London Borough Council, which required the gates to be removed.
However, Sabi maintains that, despite todays decision, he still plans to take his bid to keep the gates to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The court has refused a stay of execution that would allow the gates to remain in place until the Strasbourg hearing, which is probably at least a year away.
Speaking outside the court Sabi condemned the police in the area, who he said were not interested in taking the time to catch burglars.
“The police have abdicated their functions as people who should provide the security, yet they dont allow us to protect ourselves,” he said.
Prior to the installation of the gates, Sabis sister had been thrown back into her car by a mugger after she had pulled into the drive. He held her down and forcibly removed her watch, diamond ring and wedding ring.
In addition, in January 1997, Sabis wife, Meira, 46, was brutally attacked as she was unlocking the front door, having just returned home from school with son Ramin, then only four.
Sabi claimed that since the electronically opened steel gates were installed at his home two years ago, his family have been free from crime on their property, while his neighbours continue to be victimised.
PLS News 14/1/02
