A traveller who claims to have a cultural aversion to bricks and mortar, despite previously owning a house for 10 years, has failed in her High Court bid to remain on land where she has taken up residence.
Caroline Stephenson and her children are living in caravans on land at Derby Road, Marehay, Ripley, Derbyshire, in breach of planning laws.
Sullivan J has blocked High Court moves by Stephenson, who claims to be a Romany gypsy, to remain on the land. Amber Valley Council had already obtained an injunction for her removal.
Stephenson argued that East Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court had acted unlawfully when they refused to adjourn a hearing to enforce the removal order earlier this month.
But Sullivan J has now refused her permission to seek judicial review, pointing out that she had lived in a house in Darlington for 10 years and had also previously applied to the council to be housed in a three-bedroom property.
“That is a wholly unsatisfactory basis upon which to assert that there is an aversion to bricks and mortar,” he said.
Stephenson’s application for judicial review Queen’s Bench Division (Sullivan J) 28 February 2003.
References: PLS News 03/03/03
