A father-of-two who was attacked throughout a violent break-in at his residence has been instructed he may face jail if he does not take away a £40k safety gate.
Philip Stafford, 60, was attacked after confronting two males – one allegedly armed with a knife – breaking into an outbuilding at his grand nineteenth Century villa within the seaside city of Torquay, Devon.
Regardless of struggling a head damage, the previous instructor pinned down the person for 20 minutes till police arrived.
Officers suggested he construct a safety fence to guard his property and Mr Stafford spent £40k on the gate, wall and a crew of engineers and consultants.
However months after the gate was erected he says a ‘very aggressive’ planning official from Torbay Council approached him and ordered him to take away the gate or face prosecution.
Mr Stafford instructed MailOnline: ‘They [the council] are threatening to throw me in jail if I do not take the gate down.
‘It is bullying however I will not give in as a result of it’s my human proper to guard myself and my household.’
Philip Stafford (pictured), 60, from Torquay faces prosecution for erecting a safety metallic gate after two people tried to interrupt in to his residence
Mr Stafford has since utilized for retrospective permission for the gate (pictured) – an utility that was supported by a number of neighbours – however this was opposed by the council
Mr Stafford mentioned the assault in 2017 was the end result of a collection of crimes on his property since an oak tree destroyed a pillar holding up the earlier gate.
The house owner – who inherited the home from his father in 2016 – mentioned: ‘I’d been up all evening clearing and sorting the home after my father had died.
‘Round 8am I used to be alerted by an alarm within the carpark and after I opened the entrance door I used to be shocked to witness a person kicking within the facet picket storage door.
‘His temper was up and down, very erratic. I escorted him down the drive after calling 999 and I used to be nonetheless on the telephone to the police.
‘Immediately he attacked me, knocking my telephone to the bottom. A determined combat ensued. He was manic, 3 times as sturdy as regular and feeling no ache.
‘I’m fortunate I used to be very very match on the time, if I hadn’t been I might have been stabbed.’
{The teenager} was later arrested on suspicion of tried housebreaking however no additional motion was taken towards him or his confederate resulting from lack of proof.
Following the incident and different prison injury, together with together with thugs vandalising his late father’s beloved Volvo property automotive, breaking into his storage and shed, smashing up safety cameras and lights and discarding used needles within the backyard, police suggested him to reinstate the gate and put up fencing to safe the property.
Mr Stafford initially constructed a short lived gate additional up his drive however when the stays of a council-owned oak tree lately fell – crushing a neighbour’s automotive – he rebuilt the pillar and put in a brand new metallic gate and fence.
The metallic gate itself value him round £10,000, however with the wall in addition to a structural engineer and planning marketing consultant the overall invoice got here to a staggering £40k.
Council chiefs have since served him with an enforcement discover and warned he faces having the gate forcibly eliminated by bailiffs, having a cost positioned on the property stopping him from promoting and even being despatched to jail as a result of the home is in a conservation space and he did not have permission to re-install the gate.
Mr Stafford claims he erected the safety gate and wall (pictured) on recommendation from the police
Mr Stafford initially constructed a short lived gate additional up his drive however when the stays of the council-owned oak tree lately fell – crushing a neighbour’s car- he rebuilt the pillar and put in a brand new metallic gate and fence
He has utilized for retrospective permission for the gate – an utility that was supported by a number of neighbours – however this was opposed by the council.
‘The council has gone out of their technique to make it tough for me,’ he mentioned.
‘They’re threatening to throw me in jail if I do not take the gate down. It is bullying however I will not give in as a result of it’s my human proper to guard myself and my household.
Mr Stafford was attacked after confronting two males – one allegedly armed with a knife – who had been breaking into an outbuilding at his grand nineteenth Century villa
‘It seems like they’re saying you may’t put on a crash helmet whereas driving a motorcycle.’
This is not the primary time any individual has confronted jail over a planning dispute.
In June 2021 Graham Wildin was prosecuted for failing to adjust to an enforcement order after constructing ‘Britain’s largest man cave’.
The decide sentenced him to 6 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, on the situation that the constructing be completely stripped and decommissioned inside 18 weeks.
Mr Wildin nonetheless didn’t adjust to the injunction and was in the end sentenced to 6 weeks in jail in August 2022. Demolition work lately started on the constructing.
A spokesman for Torbay Council mentioned: ‘We carried out an investigation following complaints about new entrance gates on this location, and it was determined {that a} breach of planning management had taken place.
‘We’re unable to touch upon the small print of an ongoing enforcement investigation, however as a part of the method we now have tried to interact with the property proprietor with a view to resolving the excellent planning issues.
‘The matter of the doorway gates stays unresolved, so authorisation for additional enforcement motion has been granted to treatment the breach of planning management.
‘Nonetheless, we acknowledge that the property proprietor has submitted a retrospective planning utility in an try and resolve the excellent planning issues.
A ‘very aggressive’ planning official from Torbay Council then approached him and ordered him to take away the gate or face prosecution (pictured: the damaged pillar)
‘They’re threatening to throw me in jail if I do not take the gate down. It is bullying however I will not give in as a result of it’s my human proper to guard myself and my household,’ he mentioned (pictured: his property from an aerial view)
‘Due to this fact any additional enforcement motion is on maintain pending the result of the present planning utility. We are going to rethink our place as soon as the result of the appliance is thought.’
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman mentioned: ‘Police had been referred to as on the night of 18 July 2017 after a report of two males appearing suspiciously outdoors an handle in Torquay.
‘A male teenager had been detained and was arrested on suspicion of tried housebreaking.
‘It was later reported {that a} socket set and spanners had been taken from the storage on the handle.
‘A second boy was later traced and spoken with in connection to the incident.
‘Each youngsters had been subsequently launched with no additional motion resulting from inadequate proof to proceed with the investigation on the time. Nonetheless, if additional proof involves mild the incident can be re-visited.’
