CHANCERY DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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ROY STOCKING |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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STEVEN WILLIAM MONTILA |
Defendant |
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Mr Jeremy Cousins QC and Mr Gavin Hamilton (instructed by Hughmans) for the Defendant
Hearing dates : 13, 14 and 15 June 2005
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Crown Copyright ©
MR JUSTICE RIMER :
Introduction
The present proceedings
The parties' respective contributions
"18. In late 1996 (I believe before the purchase had actually been completed), my family and I left our rented accommodation as the Lease had expired. Our property at Hartley was at that stage not ready for occupation. We purchased a caravan and two portacabins and sited them at the Barn. One was for my wife and myself to live in, one was for storing our excess furniture and one for my son Gary in which I installed a toilet, shower, new kitchen and electrical units to give him some independence. Through [Mr Montila's] companies we had purchased a large volume of timber, slates containers and other building materials which were being stored there in readiness for the development of the barn. These were extremely valuable and I estimate that the cost of the materials would have been in excess of £60,000.00. It was therefore decided that we could 'kill two birds with one stone'. We could live there until our new house was ready to live in and it also meant that the Defendant and I would not have to go to the expense of employing a Security Company to be on site at the time when no-one was there to reduce the risk of theft and also vandalism. The property is fairly isolated and an intruder would not be easy to spot without someone being on site permanently. We were also looking after my wife's father, that is [Mr Montila's] grandfather. My father in law was unable to look after himself and we took on all of his day to day care. [Mr Montila] and his parents would occasionally come and visit him at the caravan. We had intended for him to come and live with us at the Hartley property once it was renovated but unfortunately he died before this was possible."
"I was very surprised but asked him how much I owed him. He told me that he would be prepared to accept £15,000. The reason for this was that he had bought the goods through the companies and could get trade discounts and also he would recoup the VAT. Therefore he reckoned that £15,000 was about right for £60,000 worth of goods."
The issues