Geoffrey Boycott Obe v Perrins Guy Williams (A Firm)and Others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | MR JUSTICE VOS |
| Judgment Date | 11 October 2011 |
| Neutral Citation | [2011] EWHC 2969 (Ch) |
| Docket Number | Case No: HC10C02517 |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Date | 11 October 2011 |
[2011] EWHC 2969 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
CHANCERY DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
The Honourable Mr Justice Vos
Case No: HC10C02517
MR CHRISTOPHER LUNDIE (instructed by Messrs Ellis Jones) appeared on behalf of the Claimant
MR HUGH EVANS (instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna) appeared on behalf of the Defendants
Introduction
This is the trial of a preliminary issue on the question of whether the action brought by Mr Geoffrey Boycott OBE, the famous cricketer and now cricket correspondent ("Mr Boycott" or "the Claimant") against a firm of solicitors is statute barred.
The first defendant firm, Perrins Guy Williams ("PGW") was a firm of solicitors in Poole, Dorset in which the 3rd Defendant, Mr George Perrins ("Mr Perrins"), and the 4th Defendant, Mr John Stevenson, were partners. PGW was eventually taken over by the 2nd Defendant, RWPS LLP.
Mr Boycott's claim, in the broadest outline, is that, when he bought the property at 2 The Horseshoe, Panorama Road, Sandbanks, Poole BH13 7RD ("the Property") as joint tenants with his erstwhile girlfriend, Mrs Anne Wyatt ("Mrs Wyatt"), for Mrs Wyatt to live in without him, the Defendant solicitors failed to explain to him that Mrs Wyatt would have the right unilaterally to sever that joint tenancy. Had he realised that, Mr Boycott says he would never have agreed to the arrangement; instead, he would have funded the purchase and owned the Property himself and granted her a licence for life, or he would have entered into a formal agreement with her that neither of them could sever the joint tenancy.
No problem arose until 2007, when Mrs Wyatt fell seriously ill and served a notice severing the joint tenancy. As a result, when she subsequently died in 2009, Mr Boycott was left with half the Property rather than a whole of it, as he says he was entitled to expect. The questions that I have to determine are, in essence, when Mr Boycott's alleged cause of action in negligence arose, and if that date is more than six years before the issue of these proceedings whether he can take advantage of the special time limit for negligence actions where facts relevant to the cause of action are not known at the date of accrual under section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980. I shall seek to frame the issues rather more formally once I have dealt with the chronological background to the claim.
Chronological background
In late 1959, Mr Boycott met Mrs Wyatt when they worked together at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.
In late 1960, Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt, who was then married, formed a relationship but did not then live together.
Between 1974 and late 1978, Mr Boycott had a relationship with a Ms Rachel Swinglehurst (Miss Swinglehurst"), whom, much later in 2003, he married.
In late 1978, Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt bought Pear Tree Farm, Water Lane, Woolley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire Wf4 2JQ ("Pear Tree Farm"). They lived there together until 1996.
In 1996, Mrs Wyatt left Pear Tree Farm, where Mr Boycott remained.
Also in 1996, Mr Boycott alleges that he and Mrs Wyatt agreed that:
(1) Mr Boycott's company, Partcourt Limited (which was owned two-thirds by Mr Boycott and one third by Mrs Wyatt) ("Partcourt") would fund the purchase and refurbishment of the Property; and
(2) upon the death of either of them, the Property would pass to the survivor of them.
On 2 September 1996, Mrs Wyatt instructed Mr Perrins to act for herself and Mr Boycott in the purchase of the Property. His attendance note records that the "Property to be brought (sic) as joint tenants".
On 13 September 1996, Mr Perrins wrote to Mrs Wyatt and Mr Boycott advising them, and recording, that the Property would be transferred to Mrs Wyatt and Mr Boycott as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, and that the arrangement could be changed later "should it be required". Mr Boycott accepted in his evidence that it was likely that he would have read this letter on his return to England, though he had been on a cricketing engagement in Toronto between 13 and 23 September 1996.
On 27 September 1996, Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt exchanged contracts for the purchase of the Property for £450,000.
On 8 October 1996, Mr Perrins wrote again to Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt saying that the Property would be transferred to them as joint owners with the right of survivorship and that that arrangement could be changed later "if required". Again, Mr Boycott accepted in his evidence that it was likely that he would have read this letter on his return to England from India where it appears that he was on tour as a commentator with the England test team from 10 October 1996 to 14 December 1996.
On 21 October 1996, Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt bought the Property, which is registered at HM Land Registry under title number DT9227. The Transfer was dated 22 October 1996 and contained no declaration of trust, but included a clause saying that the survivor could give a valid receipt for capital money arising from a disposition of the Property. The purchase was funded:
(1) As to the deposit of £45,000 by Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt equally;
(2) As to £410,870 by a directors' loan from Partcourt to Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt;
(3) As to £58,750 in refurbishment costs by a further directors' loan to Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt.
On 18 November 1996, Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt were registered as proprietors of the Property at HM Land Registry.
On 4 April 1997, Mr Boycott bought out Mrs Wyatt's one third interest in Partcourt for some £433,000, but she remained liable for her share of the directors' loan account.
In 1998, it is alleged that Partcourt loaned further monies up to about £115,000 to build an apartment at the Property in place of the swimming pool.
In 1999, the parties agreed that:
(1) Mr Boycott would assume that Mrs Wyatt's liability on the Partcourt directors' account in the sum of £238,000; and
(2) Mrs Wyatt would transfer to Mr Boycott her share in Pear Tree Farm, then worth some £275,000.
On 2 July 1999, Mr Boycott and Mrs Wyatt executed a deed of trust reflecting the above agreement.
On 10 January 2002, Mr Boycott made a will recording at clause 7 that, in the event that he should pre-decease Mrs Wyatt, she "by survivorship will become the sole owner of the [Property]". Mr Boycott relied in his evidence on the fact that this clause in his will evidenced that he was standing by the arrangement he says he made with Mrs Wyatt that the right of survivorship would, in effect, be irrevocable.
In Autumn 2002, Mr Boycott was diagnosed with life threatening cancer.
On 26 February 2003, Mr Boycott married Ms Rachel Swinglehurst.
In March 2003, Mr Boycott made a further will recording again at clause 7 that in the event that he should pre-decease Mrs Wyatt, she "by survivorship would become the sole owner of the [Property]".
In 2006, Mr Boycott left Pear Tree Farm and moved to Jersey.
In April 2007, Mrs Wyatt was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
On 20 April 2007, Mrs Wyatt signed a notice of severance in respect of the joint tenancy of the Property.
On 9 May 2007, Mr Perrins served Mrs Wyatt's notice of severance on Richard Knaggs & Co, a firm of solicitors, the principal of which is Mr Richard Knaggs who is Mr Boycott's close friend and personal solicitor. Mr Hugh Evans, counsel for the Defendants, relies on the fact that Mr Perrins served this notice as reminding Mr Boycott of the existence of Mr Perrins, the solicitor whom Mr Boycott alleges was responsible for his predicament.
Mr Knaggs's uncontested evidence is that he advised Mr Boycott about the notice of severance. He says that he was instructed to acknowledge receipt of the notice of severance on Mr Boycott's behalf and that he "told him that there was nothing that he could do about it. I didn't discuss with [Mr Boycott] what might have been done differently when the Property was purchased over ten years prior to the notice of severance. I did advise [Mr Boycott] that, now the notice of severance had been served, he had to be careful that Mrs Wyatt did not acquire any dependency claims against [Mr Boycott] in the event of his death on the basis that he was allowing her to live there rent free."
On 16 July 2007, Mr Boycott wrote a lengthy letter to Mrs Wyatt expressing concern and upset about the fact that Mrs Wyatt had broken the agreement they had made. The Defendants rely on the fact that Mr Boycott wrote that "you have now taken away any expectation that I might have had of owning the Property in its entirety…" An emotional correspondence ensued. Mr Boycott told me that he was very upset and was focusing on what he could do in relation to Mrs Wyatt at that stage.
The Defendants allege that by July 2007 at the latest, Mr Boycott should have known that he had suffered loss and that such damage was attributable to the acts or omissions of the Defendants who had acted for him in relation to the purchase of Property.
On 10 August 2007, Mr Boycott wrote to Mrs Wyatt in response to her having informed him of her terminal disease and suggested they meet.
On 19 January 2009, Mrs Wyatt began proceedings in the Poole County Court seeking an order that she and Mr Boycott were tenants in common and seeking an order for sale of the property.
Also, on 19 January 2009, Mrs Wyatt sadly died.
At the end...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lee Witcomb v J. Keith Park Solicitors
...in Haward. 68 Mr Troman further relied before the judge and before us on the decision of Vos J in Boycott v Perrins Guy Williams [2011] EWHC 2969 (Ch), [2012] PNLR 25. The claimant bought a property for his then girlfriend to live in. They agreed they would be joint tenants so that if one......
-
Lee Witcomb v J. Keith Park Solicitors (A Firm)
...but from the claimant's reasonably becoming aware that the advice was wrong. 46 The Defendants rely on Boycott v Perrins Guy Williams [2011] EWHC 2969 (Ch), [2012] PNLR 25. There the claimant bought a property in 1996 for his girlfriend, who was significantly older than he was. They agree......