Pilot faces jail if he stays in the home he lost in divorce

A HELICOPTER pilot who barricaded himself in his home after he lost a divorce battle will be jailed if he does not leave by next week.

Peter Elliott, 49, has fought a fouryear battle with his ex-wife, Leonie Butler, 45, over his £500,000 farm near Appleby, in Cumbria.

Despite a judge’s order that he get out so it can be sold and the proceeds split with his ex-wife, he refuses to leave, has put barbed wire around it and allegedly thrown rocks at bailiffs.

Confirming a six-month prison sentence, due to start on Thursday next week if he doesn’t leave, Lady Justice Macur said Mr Elliott was clearly in contempt of court.

The Court of Appeal heard Mr Elliott, formerly a £96,000-a-year pilot for Andrew Tinkler, the chief executive of the Stobart Group, was first ordered out in 2012. Mr Elliott insists that he should be allowed to stay at his home but the court rejected his appeal.