Chatelaine facing eviction from £3m castle ... after legal battle over £230!
A BUSINESSWOMAN faces eviction from her £3million castle after she lost a decades-long legal battle over a £230 debt.
Marian van Overwaele, 70, was made bankrupt after repeatedly refusing to pay a bill relating to a bridalwear business that she ran in 1997.
Her debt rose to £30,000 and a bankruptcy trustee was appointed to take control of her assets.
Since being made bankrupt, Mrs Van Overwaele has fought various legal battles. Her lawyers once launched an unsuccessful challenge at the House of Lords to quash the decision.
The Court of Session heard that in August 2009, Mrs Van Overwaele transferred the ownership of Knockderry Castle in Cove, Argyll, to her brother, George Amil.
This prompted the bankruptcy trustee, George Lafferty, to launch a bid to have Belgian citizen Mrs Van Overwaele evicted from the property.
He feared she was trying to stop him selling the property in a bid to settle her debts.
Mr Lafferty succeeded in halting the transfer and secured an order to evict Mrs Van Overwaele and her brother.
The Court of Session ruled against Mrs Van Overwaele and her brother in March this year because they failed to attend court without proper excuse.
The pair had claimed they were unwell and could not engage with the legal process.
Mrs Van Overwaele initially claimed she was suffering from Covid-19. But a note sent to court from a doctor stated she was suffering from diarrhoea.
The court heard how the doctor had not examined Mrs Van Overwaele and only relied upon what the pensioner told her.
The doctor had said that Mrs Van Overwaele needed the note for a ‘legal meeting’ and not court proceedings.
Mr Amil also claimed he was unwell but did not provide a proper explanation about his supposed illness. He did not wish the March hearing to go ahead because it ‘fell within the Easter Holidays’ and he wanted to spend time with his family.
Both Mrs Van Overwaele and her brother appealed against the decision to the Inner House of the Court of Session.
They claimed their human rights had been breached and also told appeal judges that their colleague was not qualified to overrule a medical certificate. However, in a written judgment yesterday, Lord Woolman, Lord Pentland and Lord Doherty upheld the earlier ruling.
Lord Woolman said the ruling of the lower court was justified.
He said the GP’s observations and conclusions were reliant upon Mrs Van Overwaele’s ‘selfreporting of her symptoms’ and said the judge ‘was not prepared to rely on that’.
Lord Woolman said the judge’s ‘scepticism was attributable to a number of factors,’ including the history of the action.
He wrote: ‘In our opinion, on the basis of the material which was before him it was at least open to the Lord Ordinary to decide that he was not satisfied that the second defender was unfit to attend the proof.’
Knockderry is regarded as one of the finest examples of Victorian mansion architecture in Scotland. Built by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, it once served as a hospital for the Free French forces in the Second World War and was visited by General Charles de Gaulle. Its grounds include a ruined Viking fort.
‘Unfit to attend the proof’