An accountant has lost a 10-year battle with his neighbour over a parking space after complaining that he could not defend himself properly in court as he had a toothache.
Ivan Soares and neighbour Manish Kothari have fought for over a decade about a “few feet” in their West London cul-de-sac in a dispute that has already amassed some £100,000 in legal fees.
The row focused on three parking spaces outside of the two families’ homes in Fallowfield Close, Harefield, Uxbridge, leading to both sides suing each other.
The Kotharis eventually won a £60,140 damages payout in April 2023 after being repeatedly boxed in by the accountant’s “high-handed, insulting and oppressive” parking.
The judge awarded £2,530 to Mr and Mrs Soares as trespass damages from the Kotharis because they had used the Soares’ parking space without permission. They also handed a series of injunctions to the Soares’ that prohibited them from straying on to their neighbours’ parking space or in front of their garage.
The neighbours row focuses on three parking spaces outside of the two families’ homes in Fallowfield Close, Harefield, Uxbridge – Champion News
Last week – 10 years after the parking row began – Mr Soares returned to the High Court seeking to reopen the case and insisting that severe toothache, which prevented him from attending court at the height of the battle in 2023, had ruined his defence.
Barrister Julian Gun Cuninghame told Judge Graham Wood KC that Mr Soares was unable to eat or speak owing to severe dental problems at the time of the trial, which caused him to not attend court to give evidence as he was receiving treatment.
Mr Soares also said he failed to attend the 2023 trial as he had lost faith in his then solicitors and because he had flown abroad for urgent dental care.
As a result, the case was heard in the absence of him and his wife.
“There genuinely was a tooth issue,” said Mr Cuninghame, adding that Mr Soares had been unable to eat or speak because of his dental problems.
The Kotharis won a £60,140 damages payout in April 2023 after being repeatedly boxed in – Champion News
But the judge decided that there was no valid reason for Mr Soares to miss the trial, saying “if he was unable to speak, he could have written to his solicitors and given them instructions in relation to the trial”.
He said: “Accordingly, I find that he didn’t have a good reason for not attending the trial.”
Mr Wood also ruled that Mrs Soares did not have a viable excuse for missing the trial because of her husband’s absence.
He rejected the Soares’ bid to overturn the injunction made against them in 2023 and refused to order a retrial.
The judge accepted that the outcome of the trial may have been different had the Soares’ been able to attend but said there was no valid excuse.
“The question is did Mr Soares apply promptly and have a good reason for not attending the trial and my answer is no,” Mr Wood concluded.