Essex siblings pay £209,000 bill for felling neighbour's trees

…Dispute turns into court battle The court heard that the McCarthys believed the old fence marked the boundary when they bought their home. Robert McCarthy said the trees were already well established at the time. “ The trees were well-established when we moved in ,” he told the judge, as quoted by The Standard. “We thought the chain link fence was the boundary as it ran along. I had no reason not to believe that to be the boundary,” McCarthy added. The siblings, however,…

…McCarthys’ legal costs. The amount comes on top of the siblings’ own court costs. The judge said the cutting down of the trees had caused a trespass and had a serious effect on the McCarthys’ use of their property. “ The centre of gravity in this case is the cutting down of trees on or around the border, which in my judgment caused a trespass and had a serious impact on the claimants’ amenity in a number of ways. It opened up their rear garden to the unwanted attention of their neighbours ,” he said. The judge also referred to “unfortunate acrimonious shouting and terms of abuse being hurled from the defendants’ garden into the claimants’ garden”. He said the couple had stopped inviting people round and…

…home. Amanda McCarthy said they had “only ever used the front rooms of their house” since the trees were removed. She also told the court that she had become “depressed as a result of the stress that has been caused”. “ After the invasion it feels completely destroyed. There's little or nothing left of what was our garden. Since the invasion we don't use the garden at all ,” she said. Foulla Bowler and John Barberis outside Central London County Court. The couple had sought compensation that included the cost of planting new trees and restoring their privacy. They also asked the court to…