'People laughed at me in prison when I told them what I was in for': ... trends now
A father-of-five, who was jailed and handed a £475,000 court bill after threatening his next door neighbours during a bitter row over a garden fence, has said his family was denied justice.
Mark Coates, 56, and wife Louise, 52, have been involved in an 'aggressive and violent' dispute with Brian Greenwood, 69, and Janice Turner, 65, after moving in to their semi-detached countryside home near Hastings in 2015.
The row came after a disagreement in 2016 over a fence between their homes on a quiet road in Robertsbridge. The Coates family wanted to replace the structure, which had fallen in a storm, with a brick wall but Mrs Taylor claimed this would encroach on her land.
It was later claimed both neighbours had set up 'surveillance cameras' to monitor the other, while Mr Coates, who is a full-time carer for his disabled son, was accused of swearing at Mr Greenwood and Mrs Turner and throwing stones at their window.
Mr Coates, who spent seven weeks in prison for being in contempt of court, was ordered to pay a £475,000 court bill this week and looks set to be made homeless in a bid to pay the hefty sum.
Mark Coates (pictured, left, with wife Louise), a father-of-five who was jailed and handed a £475,000 court bill after threatening his next door neighbours during a bitter row over a garden fence, has said his family was denied justice
The row came after a disagreement in 2016 over a fence (pictured) between their homes on a quiet road in Robertsbridge. The Coates family wanted to replace the structure, which had fallen in a storm, with a brick wall but Mrs Taylor claimed this would encroach on her land
It was later claimed both neighbours had set up 'surveillance cameras' to monitor the other, while Mr Coates, who is a full-time carer for his disabled son, was accused of swearing at Mr Greenwood and Mrs Turner and throwing stones at their window
The father-of-five has now argued that his family was denied justice because they could not afford to pay for lawyers.
He said: 'If you've got the money, you can get justice. I've been arrested five times and jailed.
'The judicial system just lets you down.'
Mr Coates, who is originally from London, moved with his wife to Robertsbridge from Edenbridge in order to have a garden and extra space.
He said: 'We saw the potential and wanted to build an extension.
'I built two sheds to make a gym for my son.
'When we first moved in we had concerns about the fence position. It was overlapping our property.
In October 2020, during an early hearing in the dispute, the couples were warned by High Court judge, Mr Justice Morgan, that persisting in the row could result in financial ruin for one or both sets of neighbours (pictured: Brian Greenwood)
The father-of-five wanted to build a wall instead of the fence but Mrs Turner (pictured) objected to the wall being built as she claimed it would encroach on her property
'We took pictures and it clearly shows.'
The partition had to be rebuilt at the bottom of the 175-foot garden after a storm blew it down.
Mr Coates claimed the structure, which was alleged to be 4.79 feet inside his land at its widest point, encroached on his property even more after the reconstruction and did not
