Authority ‘could face action after collapse of case’
CIVIL ACTION could be taken against a council after a court case collapsed.
It came after the trial of park home owner William Flannigan was cut short in its ninth week after a Judge at Hull Crown Court ruled there was no case to answer.
Mr Flannigan, who had been accused of misselling homes at Lakeminster Park, near Beverley, leading some purchasers to wrongly believe they could live there full-time, was acquitted of ten counts of fraud by false representation,
A spokesman for some residents, who backed Mr Flannigan, said: “We have instructed solicitors who are now considering the evidence that has emerged as they prepare a case against East Riding Council for malfeasance.”
Former homeowner Alan Coates said: “I think East Riding Council have an awful lot to answer for. William Flannigan said he has been the victim of a witchhunt and I totally agree. They have never been interested in resolving this situation to the benefit of the parties involved.”
In a 28-page judgement Judge Paul Watson QC said not one purchaser had taken any steps to complain about being missold, until the council took enforcement action in 2011. When that began the complainants instructed Gosschalks solicitors to act on their behalf in a group action against the solicitors who had acted for Mr Flannigan.
He said Gosschalks “had adopted an aggressive ‘driving seat’ position in relation to the police investigation”, vetting statements police had taken before returning them “in a form they were content was acceptable”.
The Judge said there were “several reasons for considerable caution” in considering exactly what had been represented to buyers, partly because the civil claims may depend upon proving the defendent misrepresented the true situation. He added: “The scope for distortion of what is said –even if subliminal – is obvious.”
The council has not commented on the threat of legal action.
But it said an inspector in 2014 refused retrospective permission to allow the homes to be lived in permanently and upheld the enforcement notice and many residents had already moved.