A former solicitor who handled so-called “land banking” transactions, in which a pensioner invested more than £700,000 in worthless plots of land, has been held liable for the lies that were told to him.
Deputy Judge Stephen Smith QC ordered Dale Walker, who acted for a group of companies operating under the umbrella of The Property Partnership (TPP) to pay David Parker £606,000, the amount he paid for 14 plots of land in North Marston, Slough and King’s Lynn.
Parker had paid additional fees to TPP of almost £100,000, but the judge ruled that Walker – who ceased to practise in 2013 – was not liable to pay them.
The judge said: “It is clear on the evidence that between June 2009 and February 2011 Mr Parker was cajoled, bullied and on occasions lied to, by the telesales agents or employees of companies operating under the umbrella of The Property Partnership (also known as TPP) for the purpose of inducing him to part with large amounts of money for, or in respect of, small plots of land, located in areas of the country with which Mr Parker did not have any connection.
“Mr Parker paid to TPP in aggregate over £700,000 in respect of these plots. It is also clear that the plots which Mr Parker purchased are and always were either worthless or of negligible value.”
Walker, who practised as Dale R Walker in Sevenoaks, handled all aspects of conveyancing for plot purchases during the relevant period, as well as for onward sales of plots in three of the schemes in which Mr Parker participated.
The judge rejected claims that Walker had either expressly or impliedly been retained as Parker’s solicitor, and that Walker owed him a freestanding duty of care.
However, he found Walker a joint tortfeasor in respect of the “actionable misrepresentations” made to Parker by the TPP companies, as he was “party to the common design” and had failed to intervene on a number of occasions in which he could have brought the schemes to an end with no loss to Parker.
He said: “Like TPP he was eager to ensure the success of each scheme because he and Dale R Walker would be likely to benefit substantially from such success. It was certainly not in
Mr Walker’s financial interests that anything should be done which might have the effect of dissuading purchasers from investing in the schemes, quite the reverse.”
Describing TPP’s actions, he added: “The scheme operated by the TPP companies is typical of what have come to be known as ‘land banking’ schemes. The name is unfortunate as to an unsuspecting mind the description may suggest that the schemes are legitimate, or even respectable, when in fact, according to the material before me, they are usually ruinous.”
Parker v Walker Chancery (Deputy Judge Stephen Smith QC) 16 May 2014
Anthony Higgins (instructed by Simmons & Simmons LLP) for the claimant
Jonathan Crystal and Katharine Stock for the defendant
