A property investment company owned by the Noe family has been ordered to pay over £560,000 in damages and interest for the “cynical expropriation” of a neighbour’s property.
Neighbour Ausman Ramzan and his father Mohammed owned an Indian restaurant in Moseley,
In 1999, workmen hired by Brookwide to convert its property into self-contained flats demolished a dividing wall on the first floor and subsumed the store room into its building.
Ramzan eventually sued but while the County Court in
Summing up Brookwide’s actions Deputy Judge Geraldine Andrews QC said “All this was done with reckless disregard of the interests of the true owner of the store room and with a view to promoting the interests of Brookwide, which wished to exploit the combined space for its own personal gain.”
She went on “The present case involved the outright and cynical expropriation of someone else’s property and its amalgamation with the wrongdoer’s own property in order that the wrongdoer could make a profit out of the use of the combined land. That profit, moreover, was one that he would have been unable to realise at all but for the expropriation and amalgamation of the claimant’s property.”
Awarding £60,000 by way of exemplary damages the deputy judge said that “the misconduct was so serious that a strong deterrent message is justified.”
She noted however that while the figure was three times the actual profit made from the wrongdoing it was only one week’s average contribution by Brookwide to its parent company
christian.metcalfe@estatesgazette.com
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