A tradesman has been ordered to pay a top Barclays banker more than £50,000 after he arranged for his multimillion-pound French Riviera villa to be burgled over an unpaid £8,000 bill.
Ivan Ritossa and his lawyer wife Marina said Bruce Pearce had arranged for their sprawling holiday villa in the Cote d'Azur to be broken into 'as an act of spite' in November 2019.
The couple, whose main home is a £10million Chelsea mansion, claimed the Sidcup-based CCTV installer felt he had been 'shafted' over his bill after putting in a security system at their holiday home.
Central London County Court heard that after being hired to install the security system at their villa in exclusive celebrity hangout St Jean Cap Ferrat, Mr Pearce organised or carried out a burglary himself, having developed an 'irrational animosity' towards Mrs Ritossa following clashes over his bills.
The couple sued Mr Pearce and his company Elegant Integration Ltd for £58,592.43 in damages, plus lawyers' costs of over £145,000.
Mr Pearce denied the 'outlandish and speculative' claim and countersued for payment of his £7,820.16 final invoice.
Judge David Saunders has now awarded Mr Pearce just over £3,000 in relation to his unpaid bills, but ordered him to pay his clients over £50,000 in damages - plus their lawyer costs - after finding on the balance of probabilities that he was behind the burglary.
The couple, whose main home is a £10m Chelsea mansion, claimed the Sidcup-based CCTV installer (pictured) felt he had been 'shafted' over his bill after putting in a security system at their holiday home
Ivan Ritossa, who is one of the world's top bankers, (left) and his lawyer wife Marina (right) claimed Bruce Pearce had arranged for their sprawling holiday villa in the Cote d'Azur in France to be broken into 'as an act of spite' on November 30, 2019
Central London County Court heard that after being hired to install the security system at their villa in exclusive celebrity hangout St Jean Cap Ferrat (pictured), Mr Pearce organised or carried out a burglary himself, having developed an 'irrational animosity' towards Mrs Ritossa following clashes over his bills
Mr Ritossa won fame and fortune by carving out a career as one of the world's top bankers and has been credited with transforming and modernising Barclays' foreign exchange arm.
The couple, who live in a £10m London townhouse in exclusive Carlyle Square, once owned one of Australia's most expensive houses, a beachside mansion in Sydney valued at $45m a decade ago.
The couple's barrister, James Wibberley, told Judge David Saunders that the row centred on their holiday home, L'Aniram du Cap, in St Jean Cap Ferrat, France.
The property on the Cote d'Azur boasts extensive grounds, a pool, a main house and separate cottage, where the family are looked after by three members of staff when they visit, Mrs Ritossa told the court.
Mr Wibberley told the court that there was 'a break-in at the claimants' property in France over the weekend of 30 November 2019 where the security system and other items supplied and/or installed by the defendants were damaged and/or stolen.'
'The claimants believe that the break-in was perpetrated by - or on behalf of - the defendants as an act of spite following Mrs Ritossa's refusal to pay Mr Pearce's final invoices,' he explained.
He told the judge that, after hiring Mr Pearce in 2018 to install the security system, relations 'deteriorated', with Mrs Ritossa complaining the work had not been completed and the system did not function correctly.
Mr Pearce for his part refused to carry out any more work until he had been paid up front.
In November 2019, the break-in occurred and Mr Pearce emailed the couple shortly afterwards, saying he would not be doing any more work for them.
The barrister told the judge that the burglary involved 'the disabling and removal of the security system, door entry system and Sonance speakers supplied and/or installed by the defendants'.
'Nothing was taken except items installed by Mr Pearce,' he said.
'The intruder was also able to
