Legal News
Walking dog has brought disciplinary action against a farmer! (3 July 2012)
Date: 03/07/2012
A legal dispute between neighbours who were warring over dog walks has resulted into court ordering one party of facing jail term if she loitered unduly when she walked her dog across the other party’s land.
Farmer Linda Jefferies, 61, was issued with the order after claims that she was using a public right of way to snoop on Pauline Robb, 52, whose land it crosses.
But Mrs Jefferies, who now has a £150,000 legal bill after unsuccessfully contesting her case at the Court of Appeal in London, claims that the order had effectively bans her from walking her two dogs, in case they stop for a call of nature.
The dispute dates back to 2005 when Mrs Robb and her husband Trevor, 55, a full-time farmer, started renting land in West Hanningfield, Essex, where they have barns and an office.
They said their neighbour immediately started taking photos and filming them as they went about their business without a clue about why they were being filmed.
In 2009, Mrs Jefferies, who rears rare breed sheep, unsuccessfully applied for an injunction, claiming her access to the track had been restricted.
This was followed by a four-day hearing in May last year, in which Mrs Jefferies claimed the Robbs had narrowed the route from 12ft to 8ft, potentially restricting access to farm vehicles.
However, a surveyor found the track was 13ft wide at its narrowest point after which the Robbs lodged a counter-claim that Mrs Jefferies was subjecting them to unrelenting surveillance.
The couple, who lived in a semi in Chelmsford, was granted an injunction against their neighbours 'intensive photography, spying and eavesdropping'.
The order stipulated that Mrs Jefferies must 'move along at a reasonable speed' on the path, or face a maximum six-month jail term and £5,000 fine.
The order also banned Mrs Jefferies from taking photographs or footage on the 400-yard track.
But incensed by the decision Mrs Jeffries took it to the Court of Appeal last week.
But Lord Justice Sullivan, who was sitting with Lady Justice Arden and Sir Nicholas Wall, rejected her plea saying that if she had previously not been passing along at a reasonable speed and the reason was that she was spying on her neighbour than there was nothing wrong with the order.
Mrs Jefferies was also ordered to pay both sides' costs. Together with an order to pay both parties' costs from the earlier hearing, her total bill is believed to be around £150,000.