Millionaire threatens to sue over ‘offensive’ video
Controversial landlord Fergus Wilson is suing a YouTube vlogger for £10,000 over a video he uploaded saying the property mogul was ‘coming across as racist.’
Danny Hyde’s video came after news emerged of Mr Wilson’s policy banning ‘coloureds’ from renting his properties because of curry smells.
The millionaire, from Boughton Monchelsea, intends to sue Mr Hyde, the controller the YouTube channel Danny Hyde TV, for what he calls a “grossly offensive” video which he believes breaches the Malicious Communications act 1988.
Mr Wilson has always denied being racist and said the policy was implemented due to dealing with curry smells.
But Mr Hyde who has around 1,200 subscribers, said in his video Mr Wilson was ‘coming across as a racist,” and other measures such as air fresheners and opening windows could be used to get rid of smells, rather banning certain people.
Mr Wilson said the legal action was not because of any racism implications but because of the language he chose in the expletive laden video.
He said: “I won’t take action over people who say I’m racist because there are too many people and I can’t sue them all.
“It’s not the content of what he wanted to say, it was the language he selected, I was appalled at what this chap said in his opening sentence.”
If the YouTuber doesn’t settle out of court, the landlord has threatened to bring a private prosecution against him.
Mr Hyde believes the landlord is being oversensitive and said it was “scary” getting a demand for £10,000.
“My emotions were strong that day because I was angry with what I saw. We’re all big men here, we should be able to handle a bit of name calling.”
Sam Percival, a friend of Mr Hyde, has set up a Crowdfunder page to help raise money for Mr Hyde’s legal fees. It has received pledges of over £250 pounds in less than 24 hours after being created.
In November a court ruled Mr Wilson’s policy to prevent people from renting his properties based on their ethnicity was unlawful. The directive came to light in a leaked email. Mr Wilson, 69, said he took the measure because of the cost of removing the smell of curry at the end of the tenancies.
Refusing to rent or let a property based on race is unlawful as it breaches section 13 of the Equality Act 2010.
Mr Wilson was served with a three-year injunction banning him from applying criteria discriminating against “coloured” tenants or those of Indian or Pakistani backgrounds.