Family torn apart in war over vintage tractor collection
Dad and son in court over £100k vehicles
A FATHER dragged his son to court in a bitter row over a collection of vintage tractors worth at least £100,000. Former RAF driver Thomas Lowther, 88, and his 51-year-old son Royston once took pride in exhibiting the 80 machines.
But after a feud about a hedge escalated, Royston stopped his father from seeing the vehicles, collected over 40 years. He said he acted in response to his father’s aggression. But Thomas claimed Royston refused any reconciliation and assaulted him.
now Darlington forced Royston County to Court pay Thomas has £1,350 for failing to hand over money after a tractor sale.
Judge Michael Coulthard told them ‘life’s too short for this sort of thing’, but design engineer Royston refused to shake his father’s hand. When asked whether there was any prospect of reconciliation, he said, ‘absolutely not’, adding: ‘I am Thomas certainly said his not son the had aggressor.’ ‘betrayed’ him, adding: ‘I want him naming and shaming, that was the only reason I took him to court. He’s destroyed three years of my life. He said I was unbearable, but this is all fabricated … I still love him.’ The father became interested in tractors as a boy during the Second World War. His 80-strong collection including Massey Fergusons envy and of enthusiasts Fordson Majors at fairs. was the Thomas, who cares for disabled wife Olive, 87, said gathering and maintaining the machines was ‘the great pleasure of my life … something we agreed on, but things went very badly wrong.’ When he retired from a driving school, he put £480,000 into a home for his son in Whinney Hill, County Durham. It had six acres, on which a £55,000 tractor showroom was built. The father gave the money on an understanding he could come as he pleased, and for years visited daily from Darlington.
But a row over hedge maintenance escalated when Royston’s second wife Janine, 45, became involved – and he changed the showroom locks. Thomas claims he offered to sell the collection to Royston for £100,000 but that his son refused. Rare tractors can sell for as much as £70,000.
Royston later sold the fleet, with most proceeds going to his father.
But the pair ended up in court over one sale in 2013. On Monday, the judge ruled there was not enough evidence to suggest Thomas received full payment for a tractor that was sold for £1,850.
The son was ordered to pay £750 plus £600 costs and fees.