Sep

Kent landlord is banned for life from contacting local council

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Controversial landlord Fergus Wilson has been banned for life from contacting his local council directly after losing a High Court battle.

Multi-millionaire Wilson has been slapped with an injunction after the court heard he had sent hundreds of letters and emails and made needless phone calls and formal complaints against officers, councillors and legal representatives.

He sent one letter to council leader Gerry Clarkson’s home address, encouraging him to ‘do all the young people in Ashford a service and commit suicide’.

In another, Wilson referred to a female member of staff as an ‘objectionable fat lady’ and ‘Michelin lady’ when calling for her to be fired.

In his judgment, Daryl Allen QC 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.”

Interim junction

It supports the previous interim injunction which Ashford Council was awarded in July 2020 and means the landlord will now only be able to contact it through a named legal advisor. A council spokesman says: “The judgement has vindicated the council’s decision to take the unusual step of resorting to litigation in order to protect its staff and councillors.”

Wilson admits that he called a staff member ‘Michelin Lady’, after receiving a letter which he took gross offence to, when Ashford Council failed to respond to his Freedom of Information request. He then decided to stop letting properties in Ashford when the council issued harassment proceedings.

He tells LandlordZONE: “All properties were either sold or spoken for before the outcome of the council’s application was known. I am sorry for all the tenants who had been with us for many years. They are totally innocent victims.”

Wilson recently offered to sell some of the remaining 150 houses from his 970-strong portfolio to the Home Office or Kent County Council to help address the issue of homeless asylum seekers, as he plans to retire and leave himself just 10 houses.

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