A reality TV star has lost a £500,000 court case after neighbours accused them of causing the d3:aths of prized falcons during nearby building work
RUFFLING FEATHERS
Reality star accused by bird-breeder neighbours of killing their prized falcons with building work loses £500k court row
A REALITY star has lost a £500,000 court fight after his bird-breeder neighbours accused him of killing their prized falcons.
Barnes Thomas, who appeared on Bear Grylls‘ survival skills show ‘The Island’ in 2018, was blamed for the “stress death” of the birds of prey due to his noisy building work.
Barnes Thomas was accused of killing his neighbour’s falconsCredit: Champion News Service
Scott Nicholas runs a breeding business with his brotherCredit: Champion News Service
A judge last year ruled he should have been more careful not to upset the gyrfalcons and handed him a bill totalling £500,000.
But the 30-year-old said the ruling was “unfair” and claims the “stress monster” birds can be terrified by the sight of a “kite on a string”.
Thomas claimed he was forced to tip-toe around during the birds’ breeding season and likened the ruling to London Zoo moving its giraffes to a Kilburn housing estate and telling the locals to be quiet.
He fought neighbours Martin Nicholas, 43, brother Scott, 44, and their business Raptors of Penwith (ROP) – saying the original ruling meant he is unreasonably restricted at his home in the Cornish village of St Just.
In their judgment on the appeal, three judges gave split decisions and the appeal was dismissed.
The court heard the brothers run their business on adjoining land and breed gyr and peregrine falcons, which they sell to be used in falcon races in Dubai.
One of the birds owned by raptor breeders Martin and ScottCredit: Refer to source
Thomas had been carrying out building work on his land next to the aviaryCredit: Champion News Service
They claimed noisy work Thomas had done on a barn effectively scared three valuable birds to death.
The brothers said this in turn reduced overall breeding and also resulted in egg loss.
Scott also claimed a JCB bucket had been raised in the birds’ line of sight, which caused them to “go mental at the sight of this alien object.”
Through their company, they claimed the acts breached a duty of care “not to cause or permit the falcons to suffer excessive noise or visual threats, in particular during the breeding season.”
Judge Jonathan Russen KC ruled in their favour and said Thomas had “proved to be a controversial neighbour”.
He also said he was convinced that the actions of Mr Thomas and his company, Upper Cot Estate Ltd (UCE), had caused the three birds’ deaths.
Barnes appeared on TV show The Island
The judge found that three gyr falcons died as a result of “stress created by the acts of nuisance” and awarded compensation in relation to them.
But Thomas’ lawyer said building a barn to store materials for his scaffolding business were all “common and ordinary use of land.”
Lord Justice Nugee Thomas was liable through negligence as he dismissed the appeal.
He added: “Parking a digger on one’s own land is a perfectly ordinary thing to do.
“But the judge found that it did not need to be left next to the aviary: this was not the only place that it could have been towed for the purposes of an engineer’s visit; and even if it had been, it should not have been left there with its bucket raised.
“In other words, leaving it in that place with the bucket raised was not necessary for the defendants’ purposes and was not ‘conveniently’ done, in the sense that all reasonable steps had been taken to ensure that no undue inconvenience was caused to their neighbours.
“It was, in the judge’s words, ‘entirely at odds with ensuring that no undue inconvenience was caused to Raptors of Penwith’.”
CRE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39673303/reality-star-loses-court-row-killing-falcons/
