A millionaire has been told that he will go to prison if he fails to pull down a sprawling home extension described locally as “Britain’s best man cave”.
Court of Appeal judges warned Graham Wildin that he has until next March to demolish the 10,000 sq ft structure that includes a bowling alley, cinema, squash courts, private casino and bar.
Local authority officials in the Gloucestershire town of Cinderford near the Forest of Dean objected to the accountant’s £200,000 extension as it had been constructed without planning permission. A High Court judge backed that ruling earlier this year and Wildin was threatened with contempt of court proceedings if he did not dismantle the extension.
After he failed to comply with the court order, a judge found Wildin in contempt and sentenced him to six weeks in jail, but suspended it for a year.
Wildin then took the case to the Court of Appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing and Lord Justice Edis ruled that he had until March 10 next year to demolish the extension or go to jail.
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Lady Justice Laing also found that the council had no way of proving whether Wildin could afford to demolish the building, as he has never made full disclosure of his assets.
The judge described the 68-year-old as “entirely the author of his own misfortune” and said there was a “reasonable basis” to believe he was a very wealthy man.
In the ruling, the appeal judges pointed out that despite being warned that the council could thwart his development plans in court, he was “undaunted” and “continued constructing the building”.
The ruling said that the accountant “accepted in an email he sent the council in 2014 that he knew that he was taking a risk that the money spent on the building would be wasted and that he might have to demolish it if the council’s view turned out to be right”.
Wildin had argued previously that he was not required to gain planning permission for the construction. He also claimed that he would be ruined financially if he were forced to demolish the structure, which would leave him in financial difficulties and result in redundancies for 40 staff.
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Responding to the appeal ruling, Tim Gwilliam, the council leader, said the legal wrangle had been avoidable. In a statement, he said that if Wildin “had followed the guidance of experts and complied with the sentencing originally handed down, this further court date would not have been necessary.
“As a council it is important to ensure that development proposals improve the environments in which they live, whilst safeguarding the community. Every year, hundreds of people ask the council for planning advice and follow it. This has not been the case in Mr Wildin’s instance.”
