Penelope Susan Van Laethem Kim Henry Brooker and Caradoc Estates Ltd
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Lawrence Collins |
| Judgment Date | 12 July 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] EWHC 1478 (Ch) |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Docket Number | Case No: HC 04 C 01030 |
| Date | 12 July 2005 |
[2005] EWHC 1478 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
CHANCERY DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2A 2LL
Mr Justice Lawrence Collins
Case No: HC 04 C 01030
Miss Miranda Allardice and Miss Charlotte Street (instructed by Blake Lapthorn Linnell) for the claimant
Mr Christopher F Sharp QC and Mr Daniel Leafe (instructed by Rickerbys) for the defendants
APPROVED JUDGMENT
Hearing: April 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 2005
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this
Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
()
I Introduction: Caradoc Court
Caradoc Court, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, is a very large Grade II listed mansion situated about four miles from Ross-on-Wye. It stands on a site which was the reputed home of the British chief Caradoc Vraich-Vras, or Strong Arm, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. The earliest parts were built in the late 16th century and alterations and additions were made principally in the early 17th and mid-19th centuries. It sits in grounds of about 18 acres. In 1983 permission was given for change of use from agriculture and residential to a health and leisure complex including a hotel. In April 1984 permission was given for change of use to a residential home for the elderly or to a nursing home.
Caradoc Court became a ruin when it was gutted by a fire in 1986. The owner had been a local builder, from whom it was then purchased by a development company. Subsequently there was an application for restoration and extension to form twenty apartments and the erection of five cottages in a walled garden and associated car parking. There was an agreement under the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, section 52 (now Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 106) with the planning authority, South Herefordshire District Council. Under the agreement permission to build cottages in the grounds was dependent on the restoration of Caradoc Court.
II Dramatis personae
The claimant is Mrs Penelope van Laethem ("Mrs van Laethem"). The first defendant is Mr Kim Brooker ("Mr Brooker"), and the second defendant is Caradoc Estates Ltd (formerly called Great Central Railway (Southern Division) Ltd). For convenience I shall generally refer to it by its present name.
Mrs van Laethem married Regis van Laethem in 1965, and they had two daughters, Lucie and Sophie. They were divorced in 1973. She married Mr Mark Beeston in 1975 and they adopted a son, Alexander ("Alex Beeston").
At the time Mrs van Laethem and Mr Brooker met in about April 1985, Mrs van Laethem was aged about 44 and married to Mr Beeston. Mr Brooker was single and aged about 29. He was living with his parents at Sulgrave Court in Sulgrave, Northamptonshire.
A close friendship developed between Mr Brooker and Mrs van Laethem. Mrs van Laethem left Mr Beeston in January 1986. Mr Brooker was named as co-respondent in the divorce proceedings commenced at that time by Mr Beeston. Mr Brooker says that their relationship was not a sexual one at that stage, although it had become one by the summer of 1986.
Mrs van Laethem went to live with her parents at the Coach House, Warmington, near Banbury, until September 1986, when she bought Basildon House, Great Bourton, for £110,000, which had been provided by Mr Beeston in the course of the divorce proceedings. A decree absolute was granted in 1987. Custody of Alex Beeston was given to her former husband.
Mrs van Laethem's father died in 1987. Her mother, Mrs Dora Hollis ("Mrs Hollis") sold the Coach House, Warmington, in September 1999, and, after a period living in a mobile home in the grounds of Caradoc Court, she lived in the East Wing of Caradoc Court in 2001, where she lived until a few months before her death in April 2002.
Mr Brooker's parents lived at Sulgrave Court, Sulgrave, Northamptonshire. Mr Brooker worked in his father's business. His father owned, and was managing director of, Central Electronics Ltd ("CEL"), a security alarm business, which assembled security systems, and had a staff of about 3 or 4 persons. It stopped trading in the mid 1990s and went into liquidation in 1999. Mr Brooker's father died in September 1996, and his mother died in September 1997.
Mr Brooker also had a collection of old railway rolling stock which he intended to restore. In the early 1980s he set up a company called Great Central Railway (Southern Division) Ltd, which, as I have said, was later called Caradoc Estates Ltd. The two shares in the company were registeredMr Brooker and his father each owned one share
Mrs van Laethem had a particular interest in interior design/furnishings/antiques. She traded in antiques in a small way from about 1986 until about 2002 (part of the time with her friend Mrs Joanna Allan). In 1988/9 Mrs van Laethem established an interior design consultancy, County Homescapes Ltd, with a Mr Bateman. Mr Brooker had a talent for joinery, and was also skilled at organising building work. Mrs van Laethem says that she realised that Mr Brooker was good as a builder, because he oversaw substantial building works on his parents' house. She encouraged him to start a combined building and joinery business. In 1990/1 Mr Bateman transferred his interest in County Homescapes Ltd to Mr Brooker, when it was renamed Ravens Oak Ltd, which became the vehicle for his joinery/building business. Caradoc Estates Ltd later became a 43% shareholder in ROL.
Mr Brooker was the only witness of fact on his side. His wife made witness statements, but Mr Brooker adopted them for the purposes of the oral evidence. The witnesses for Mrs van Laethem were: (1) Mrs Janine Hamel-Findhammer, who knew Mr Brooker and Mrs van Laethem as a result of her mother's close friendship with Mr Brooker's mother, and later with both Mr Brooker's parents and Mr Brooker. Her evidence was very supportive of Mrs van Laethem, and it mainly concerned the relationship between Mr Brooker and Mrs van Laethem, and what she saw of Mrs van Laethem's work on Caradoc. (2) Mr Bruce Teuten, who was the father-in-law of Mrs van Laethem's daughter, Lucie. His evidence was mainly concerned with what he understood to be Mrs van Laethem's contribution. (3) Mrs Joanna Allan, a friend of Mrs van Laethem. She ran a small antiques business with Mrs van Laethem until about 2002. Her evidence was mainly concerned with what Mrs van Laethem had told her about her (and her mother's) contribution to Caradoc and her relationship with Mr Brooker. (4) Alex Beeston, Mrs van Laethem's adopted son, whose relevant evidence was mainly about Mrs van Laethem's contribution. (5) Paul Martin, who worked for Humberts, estate agents, in 2003, and who gave evidence about what Mr Brooker told him about Mrs van Laethem's interest in that part of Caradoc to which I shall refer as the Development Land.
III The dispute
The legal title to the house and surrounding land was held by Mr Brooker on one title when it was bought in 1991. The legal title to part of the surrounding land has been held by what is now Caradoc Estates Ltd since 1993, when the legal title was split, with Mr Brooker retaining the house and the rest of the land. I shall generally refer to the part still vested in Mr Brooker as "Caradoc Court", and the part held by Caradoc Estates Ltd as the "Development Land", and to them together as "Caradoc". Planning permission to build 6 new houses on the Development Land was granted in 1995.
Mr Nicholas Hextall (of John D Wood & Co), the single joint valuation expert, gave evidence of the value of the property. Caradoc Court is valued at £1,150,000, comprising the house and amenity land (16 acres). The Development Land (2 acres) is valued at £550,000. The total value of Caradoc is therefore £1,700,000.
This is an application under section 14 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 for a declaration of Mrs van Laethem's interest in Caradoc Court and the Development Land. Mrs van Laethem sought relief from the court which would have given her a 50% interest in Caradoc Court and the Development Land, but now seeks somewhat less.
Mrs van Laethem's case is that she is entitled to an interest in Caradoc Court and the Development Land by virtue of a common intention constructive trust or by proprietary estoppel. Mr Brooker's case is that it was never agreed that Mrs van Laethem should have any interest in the property and any claim that she may have had upon him was settled in 1999 when he purchased a nearby property, Oakleigh, in her sole name. By way of counterclaim, Mr Brooker says that Mrs van Laethem misled him as to the extent of the monies he owed her when he acquired Oakleigh and that as a consequence she has in fact been overpaid by a sum stated in the counterclaim to be about £86,000, but now said to be as much as £140,000.
IV The properties: an overview
It is not possible to understand the contentions of the parties or the history of this matter without an overview of the properties and some associated matters. In this section I shall set out shortly (without making any findings on disputed matters and at the risk of over-simplification) the history of the relevant properties in order to set the scene for the parties' contentions and the detailed history.
Basildon House
Mrs van Laethem purchased Basildon House at Great Bourton in the course of her divorce proceedings in September 1986 for £110,000. In March 1992 she charged it in favour of Mortgage Funding Corporation plc to secure a loan to her of £100,000 in connection with the purchase of Caradoc. She sold Basildon House for £205,000 in July 1994, and...
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MARK ANDREW PURSEGLOVE and DEBORAH SARGENT Third Party
...constructive trust and proprietary estoppel; and the summary of the legal principles by Lawrence Collins J in Van Laethem v Brooker [2005] EWHC 1478 (Ch) at paragraphs 61–82. CONCLUSION 27 The first question is whether DS has any interest at all in 39 Clareville Street. Any such interest ar......