Ashford Brough Council has won a permanent High Court injunction restraining one of the UK’s large-scale landlords from harassing council staff.
In a ruling handed down yesterday (22 September) High Court judge Daryl Allen QC ruled that Ashford landlord Fergus Wilson’s behaviour had been offensive and amounted to harassment, and said that a temporary anti-harassment injunction granted by an earlier judge should be made permanent.
Wilson (pictured) is reported to be one of the UK’s largest landlords.
“Together with his wife, he owns a very large number of residential rental properties in Kent. The precise ownership of those properties is not an issue in these proceedings. It would appear that some/all of the properties are in Mrs Wilson’s name,” the ruling said.
According to the council’s lawyers, in his dealings with the council Wilson carried out a campaign of harassment against officials, insulting them in hundreds of letters, emails and phone calls.
However, at a trial earlier this year, lawyers for Wilson argued that although his behaviour “might be characterised as offensive or even ‘abhorrent’, his behaviour has not crossed the threshold required for it to be characterised as harassment”.
According to the ruling, he made frequent personal and humiliating attacks on officials, making unfounded accusations of criminal behaviour and professional misconduct. He twice told one councillor to commit suicide.
Lawyers for the council submitted more than 400 examples of abusive correspondence.
Wilson’s “intention when suggesting that a councillor or employee should commit suicide was to cause maximum distress, offence and upset”, the judge said in his ruling.
His “intention when sending personally offensive/insulting correspondence was to cause distress, offence, humiliation and upset to the named individual”, he said.
“The defendant’s conduct repeatedly went far beyond merely irritating and annoying. It was deliberately offensive. It included numerous unfounded allegations of professional misconduct and criminal conduct. It included multiple threats of criminal or other legal proceedings which were never pursued.
“In the light of my findings, I have no hesitation in finding that the defendant’s conduct was harassment in breach of section 1 of the [Protection from Harassment Act 1997],” he ruled.
He said that the interim injunction should be converted into a permanent one.
(1) Ashford Borough Council (for and on behalf of itself, its current and former officers, employees, councillors and agents) and (2) Mrs Tracey Kerly (for and on behalf of the current and former officers, employees, councillors and agents of the first claimant (pursuant to CPR 19.6)) v Fergus Wilson
High Court, Queen’s Bench Division (Mr Daryl Allen QC) 22 September 2021
