Land battle Murderer could lose assets after order to pay £60,000
THE family of Zac Evans’ killer has said he could lose his remaining assets after he was ordered to pay more than £60,000 by a court.
Ewen Reynolds, who was jailed for life in 2016 after murdering the 19-yearold teenager with a machete, was told to pay the five-figure sum by Worcester County Court.
The case was brought by solicitor Claire Thompson for his neighbours, who were angered by ‘diggers going over the land,’ Reynolds’ family say.
The hearing was told the father of three would have to sell a house in Gloucester to pay off the £65,289, plus costs, to a claimant called Fielding.
If this doesn’t happen in the allotted time, he may have to forfeit around 350 acres of land at Brockeridge Common, near Tewkesbury, and Home Farm to foot the bill.
“What this order says is you have three months to raise this amount of money,” Judge Gibson told Reynolds’ family.
“If that is paid off by selling (the house in Gloucester), as long as you make the payment in full by November 13, nothing will happen to properties one and two.
“If you don’t, the claimant’s solicitors are given the right to sell these two properties (the common and farm).”
A spokesperson for Reynolds who was at the hearing said he bought the land cheaply a long time ago and it is now very valuable as it is of special interest to several different parties.
They said their relative serving 28 years is frustrated by proceedings, which began before the court case.
“He didn’t know this was happening until four days ago and because he is in a Category A prison, he can’t keep anything in there,” said the family member.
“He has to remember everything and try to talk to us about it when he can.
“We may not be able to sell the house. And if we lose the land, that would be his assets gone.”
Reynolds has spent two years behind bars after being found guilty of the attack on Mr Evans, which happened in the car park of the Pike and Musket pub in Tuffley.
Bristol Crown Court heard he left the victim dying following the 2015 incident.
Reynolds was also convicted of attempting to murder Zac’s friend Keaton Jones, who suffered head and neck injuries.
The family spokesman said their relative is extremely remorseful for what he has done but they feel the sentence is high in comparison to other cases.
“What he did was disgusting. It has spilt our family apart,” they said.
“But there have been worse crimes and people haven’t got 28 years. He could die in prison.”
They added: “Over the land we haven’t had a fair fght. People are trying to take his assets.
“We do not intend to cause any more upset to the family speaking about this. We send our true condolences.”
Judge Gibson said no evidence had been provided by Reynolds and his family to show either piece of land would be valuable enough to pay off the £65,000 sum, which is why they are being put together in proceedings.
The Reynolds spokesman said they would notify him of the result.
“He will be really frustrated, he can’t do anything else,” they continued.
“Mentally he is finding prison difficult. For the first two years he wasn’t allowed to do any workshops, now he can do one once a week.
“He’s been reading the Bible and has faith in God.
“He is truly remorseful. I feel his pain when he’s speaking about it (what happened).
“His daughters are fighting for him.”
He didn’t know this was happening until four days ago
A FAMILY SPOKESMAN