A British court ordered a family to pay more than £209,000 for illegally cutting down trees
In the United Kingdom, a court ordered three siblings to pay their neighbors more than 209,000 pounds sterling following a long-standing dispute over the illegal cutting of trees on the property line. Due to the significant financial obligations, the family may lose the home where they grew up.
The conflict between Robert and Amanda McCarthy and their neighbors, Fowla Bowler, John Barberis, and Mary Englishby began in 2018 over a dispute regarding the property line in Essex. According to court records, the defendants dismantled an old fence and hired workers to cut down a row of 10-meter-tall Leyland cypresses, claiming that the trees were growing on their property and shading their garden.
The McCarthys claimed that after the trees were cut down, they lost their privacy, which led them to almost stop using their backyard. In addition, during the proceedings, it was established that the situation had negatively affected the mental health of Amanda McCarthy, who suffered from depression due to the prolonged conflict.
In 2025, the court ruled that the old fence constituted the legal boundary between the properties and that the neighbors had unlawfully trespassed onto the other property and cut down the trees without permission. The judge described their actions as arbitrary and a significant violation of the homeowners’ rights.
Following a separate hearing, the court ordered the defendants to pay approximately 30,500 pounds in compensation, as well as 178,668 pounds in court costs and the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees. At the same time, the court declined to order the defendants to pay for the planting of new large trees costing 105,000 pounds, but instead awarded 5,000 pounds for the planting of young saplings.
When announcing the ruling, the judge noted that, due to the need to meet these financial obligations, the house where the siblings spent their childhood might be put up for sale.
This was reported by The Independent on July 10.
As a reminder, the Lviv District Administrative Court ordered the owner of an apartment in the historic building at 9 Pidvalna Street to restore the authentic appearance of the 18th–19th-century architectural monument, which is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
