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A Parliament bell ringer who tore out the front gate to his banker neighbour's house will lose his £1million London home after a court ordered its sale.
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court → see → sale
Adrian Udal, 66, tore out the roller gate and door leading to Nicholas Patrick-Hiley's £2million mews cottage in Disbrowe Road, Fulham in August 2023 – just as Mr Patrick-Hiley was arriving at his new home after completing the purchase.
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Hiley → tear → purchase
The financier had planned to make the property a dream retirement home for himself and wife Lisa, 63 – but Mr Udal's actions pitched the couple into a bitter legal battle that has run for three years.
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that → plan → years
Mr Udal, whose home sits adjacent to and above the entrance to the mews, insisted he had a right to do what he did as he owned the land the gate was on.
But the Patrick-Hileys sued and won last year over what Judge Nicholas Parfitt labelled Mr Udal's 'carefully pre-planned' act of 'wanton destruction'.
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Parfitt → sit → destruction
The bell ringer was told to pay his neighbours £10,000 in June 2025, before being handed an £85,000 bill for their legal fees, not including his own.
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ringer → tell → own
The order included daily accruing interest.
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order → include → interest
Adrian Udal (rear) is seen demolishing the roller door leading to Nicholas and Lisa Patrick-Hiley's new home in Fulham in August 2023
Mr Udal (pictured) has been ordered to sell his home after refusing to pay a penny of compensation or his neighbours' legal expenses
The Patrick-Hileys (pictured) had been made aware of a dispute between Mr Udal and the home's previous occupant but had thought it resolved
Today, the High Court ordered the sale of Mr Udal's home after hearing that he had yet to pay a single penny of the £129,500 he now owed to the Patrick-Hileys – and had 'no intention' of paying anything to them at all.
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he → see → them
Judge Deputy Master Martin Dray said: 'The claimants are out of pocket and owed a considerable amount of money, which is ever increasing.
'
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which → say → money
The defendant has made no attempt to repay any part of it...quite the contrary, he has disclaimed any liability to pay one penny piece.'
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he → make → piece
The couple were granted an order of possession and sale to obtain the money they were owed in order to recover their debts.
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they → grant → debts
Deputy Master Dray said there had been a 'frosty conversation' between the neighbours after Christmas last year when Mr Udal – who had already lost a bid to appeal – 'made it quite clear he had no intention of making any payments'.
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he → say → payments
He said Mr Udal had not engaged in the proceedings relating to the sale of his house, but that he could not be allowed to 'derail' the case, and went on to make the order in his absence.
'It seems to me that, on the evidence before the court, the scales are tipped decisively in favour of the claimants, and making an order enforcing the charging orders by way of sale and possession,' he said.
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he → say → sale
The sale order is to enable the couple to enforce a debt from the original case which now stands at around £104,500, but Mr Udal was also ordered to pay a further £25,000 in costs of the hearing today.
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Udal → enable → hearing
The judge said that possession of the house would have to be handed over within 28 days, but that it would not be enforced if Mr Udal pays up before October 2.
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Udal → say → October
The entrance to the mews home, which runs underneath Mr Udal's home, before it was torn out
The entrance after Mr Udal tore out the roller gate and door himself - landing himself in hot water
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Udal → run → water
The entrance to the home runs directly under Mr Udal's home - a passageway to which, the court ruled, they had every legal right
Mr Udal is a veteran bell-ringer, whose role involved liaising with clergy when bellringing is needed for special church, state and parliamentary events, while he is proud to have 'rung in' the New Year almost every year since 2000.
In 2021, he was appointed secretary of the belfry at St Margaret's Church next to Westminster Abbey, which acts as a place of worship for the Houses of Parliament.
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which → run → Parliament
Mr Patrick-Hiley is a retired financier and former managing director and head of sales for North America investment banking specialists Panmure Gordon.
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Hiley → retire → Gordon
During the trial at Mayor's and City County Court last year, Judge Parfitt was told how the two neighbouring homes are in an unusual layout, with the Patrick-Hileys' house located behind Mr Udal's property and reachable across a drive and through a passageway, which passes under part of his house and into their courtyard.
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which → tell → courtyard
The drive and passageway are owned by Mr Udal, but the couple have the right to pass over it to get to their house, the court heard.
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court → own → house
Mr Patrick-Hiley had arrived at the property on the day of completion shortly after midday in August 2023 to find Mr Udal and another man destroying the gates.
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Udal → arrive → gates
The couple had been made aware of a conflict between the last owner of their home and Mr Udal, but had contacted him offering him the opportunity to give input on 'better looking and more functional gates' they planned to install.
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they → make → gates
They considered the matter closed – until he was seen ripping out fixtures, seemingly to install his own set of metal barriers that he purchased a month prior.
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he → consider → that
Mr Udal said he was asserting his legitimate rights as freeholder to the land – but his defence was dismissed by an unimpressed Judge Parfitt, who described him as a 'poor witness who came across as preferring his own perception of what might be helpful to his own case, regardless of any objective reality'.
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what → say → reality
The Aporia
