A neighbour who waged a campaign of harassment and ‘blackmail’ terrorising the son of England cricket legend Colin Cowdrey to prevent the sale of his £3.85m home is facing a £500,000 bill after losing a bitter court dispute.
Film producer Jeremy Cowdrey, 65, whose father captained England, sued his neighbour Vanessa Gibson over ‘lies’ which he said made his sprawling ten-acre country estate in Goudhurst, Kent, unsellable.
The dispute began with her purchase of a strip of land, which meant she owned part of Mr Cowdrey’s tennis court, and escalated into what a judge found was an attempt to ‘blackmail’ him and extract ‘unreasonable sums’ to enable the sale of his home to go through.
Mr Cowdrey likened his neighbour’s conduct to water torture.
The case reached Central London County Court earlier this year when Judge Jane Evans-Gordon ruled in favour of Mr Cowdrey, branding his 55-year-old neighbour’s behaviour ‘unreasonable and oppressive.’
But the parties were back in court again last week when the judge ordered Ms Gibson to pick up Mr Cowdrey’s lawyers’ bills for the row – including £360,000 up front.
This is in addition to the £159,000 she still owes him in compensation ordered at the end of the trial in July.
Ms Gibson was told she could end up in prison if she breaks promises she made in court over how and when she could contact Mr Cowdrey in future.
Film producer Jeremy Cowdrey, 65, whose father captained England, sued his neighbour over ‘lies’ he claimed made his Kent property ‘unsellable’
Vanessa Gibson has now been ordered to pay more than £500,000 to her neighbour, which could rise after a full costs assessment is carried out
The court heard during the trial that Ms Gibson has lived in the area for many years, and Mr Cowdrey moved in after buying Crowbourne Farm in early 2022.
The estate is made up of a sprawling Grade II-listed farmhouse with its own wine cellar, a separate guest cottage, studio, barn and workshop, a quadruple car port and over ten acres of grounds, including a tennis court, stables, woods and two lakes.
Mr Cowdrey told the judge he had been warned about the potential for trouble with his neighbour, who lives in a barn conversion next door, before he bought it.
However, the pair initially had a good ‘neighbourly’ relationship, with Ms Gibson helping the cricketer’s son feed his ducks.
He said he thought he could get over any problems, but that within a couple of months he realised the property was ‘not right’ for him and decided to sell.
Viewings were arranged and buyers were found, with a sale price of £3.85 million agreed, but the purchasers pulled out after a string of emails sent by Ms Gibson.
The court heard there had previously been a dispute over ownership of the land which Ms Gibson bought, which was settled when Mr Cowdrey agreed to fence it off and give up any claim to it, but Ms Gibson’s emails suggested the row was ongoing.
She had also emailed him, his lawyer and estate agent with allegations relating to his right to run water, electricity, sewage and phone services across her land, and brought up issues of flooding in the area, suggesting it may be down to work done by the previous owners on Mr Cowdrey’s land.
Pictured is the farmhouse property in Goudhurst, Kent, which was at the centre of the row
Former England captain Colin Cowdery is pictured during his early cricketing days with his young son, Jeremy
Suing for malicious falsehood and harassment, Mr Cowdrey claimed his neighbour had ‘terrorised’ him and likened her constant ‘clusterbomb’ of complaints as akin to water torture.
‘I likened it to the Japanese drip of water because it was like that,’ he said. ‘We are on the third anniversary of this. It’s been a really horrendous experience.’
Ms Gibson, representing herself, denied Mr Cowdrey’s claims and said she only raised legitimate issues about the property and that it was in fact Mr Cowdrey who behaved in an ‘ungentlemanly’ way.
But finding for Mr Cowdrey in July, the judge said the boundary dispute had been settled and that Ms Gibson had tried to ‘conceal her intention… to interfere with Mr Cowdrey’s sale.’
Her allegations that there were ‘ongoing disputes’ in relation to the tennis court, utility services and breaches of land covenants were ‘false,’ she continued.
‘Standing back and looking at Ms Gibson’s conduct from about March 2022 through to June 2023, it seems to me that her actions were motivated by an improper purpose, namely to cause harm, specifically pecuniary loss, to Mr Cowdrey by preventing him from selling Crowbourne Farm unless he paid her any price she sought,’ she said.
‘I am satisfied that Ms Gibson concealed her purchase of the strip from Mr Cowdrey until she could use her ownership to extract significant payment from him.
‘Ms Gibson was, of course, entitled to forward her own interests, which can include benefiting financially from her land and the covenants benefiting that land.
Colin Cowdrey (left) and Ted Dexter leading out the England team during a test match against Pakistain at Headingley, Yorkshire
This image shows one of the lakes on Mr Cowdrey’s sprawling 10-acre country home
‘But there comes a point where proper motivation tips over into an improper purpose and, in my judgment, that point was reached in this case.’
She added: ‘I am satisfied that Ms Gibson’s conduct went well beyond any proper promotion of her own interests and tipped over into a form of blackmail or maliciousness.’
At trial, Mr Cowdrey said his house would now be worth £3.7 million absent Ms Gibson’s allegations and so sued for the £150,000 difference between that and the £3.85m sale which he lost.
Agreeing, the judge said: ‘In my judgment, the sum of £150,000, together with interest, is the correct measure of damages.’
She also awarded an additional £9,000 damages for the ‘oppressive and unreasonable’ campaign of harassment.
Back in court on Friday, Mr Cowdrey’s barrister Brooke Lyne argued that Ms Gibson should be made to pay his huge legal bills for the dispute, which she said ran well over £400,000.
Ruling, the judge said Ms Gibson would have to pay the costs, with a large chunk of them assessed on the punishing ‘indemnity’ basis due to the way she conducted the litigation.
She ordered her to shell out some of the money up front ahead of a full assessment of Mr Cowdrey’s costs, telling her: ‘I’m going to make an order for payment on account in the sum of £300,000 – £360,000 including VAT.’
Ms Gibson, who told the court she does not have ‘any money’ to pay the bill, gave a series of ‘undertakings’ as to how and when she can contact Mr Cowdrey.
Warning her of the seriousness of making such legally-binding promises, the judge said: ‘An undertaking is the equivalent of a court order.
‘If you breach it, you will be in contempt of court as if you breached an order of the court.
‘Contempt of court which is established beyond reasonable doubt attracts a penalty of a fine or a period of imprisonment of up to two years.’
Jeremy Cowdrey is the second son of Colin, Lord Cowdrey, who was the first cricketer to play 100 Tests and was the first to be made a peer for his services to the game.
Lord Cowdrey was an outstanding batsman, famed for his style and nonchalance both on and off the field, with one commentator saying he seemed to ‘charm rather than strike the ball’ and a fellow England player labelling him an ‘unbridled genius’.
His second son, Jeremy, worked as a City stockbroker for 20 years, later switching to working as a film producer and helping create the movie ‘Summer in February’ in 2013, starring Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame.
Lord Cowdrey’s two other sons, Chris and Graham, went on to play cricket for Kent and Chris also saw six Tests for England. He also had a daughter, Carolyn.
