A Wakefield couple who discovered that their home had been the site of a grisly murder have failed in a claim that the sellers had failed adequately to inform them.
Alan and Susan Sykes purchased the £83,000 house in Stillwell Drive in December 2000. While watching a crime documentary on television, the couple realised that, 15 years previously, Leeds University dental biologist Dr Samson Perera had murdered his 13-year-old adopted daughter on the premises.
Following their discovery, the couple put the house on the market, but struggled to find a buyer and ultimately lost £8,000 on the sale. They subsequently sought damages from the vendors, James and Alison Taylor-Rose, on the ground that, if they had known the history of the property, they would never have made the purchase.
In the county court, Judge Langan dismissed the claim. The Court of Appeal has now rejected their challenge to that decision.
Peter Gibson LJ said: “I feel a great deal of sympathy for this couple but we have had to decide a dry issue of law.”
In a statement issued by their lawyer, the Sykeses said: “We are extremely disappointed with the decision. However, we think it was right and appropriate to bring the case to court.”
Sykes and another v Taylor-Rose and another Court of Appeal (Peter Gibson and Mantell LJJ and Sir William Aldous) 27 February 2004.
References: EGi Legal News 1/3/04
