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Neighbour from hell facing ruin

A MAN who tried to run his neighbour off a motorway could be forced to sell his house to pay legal fees after losing a court battle.

Neighbour from hell Kenneth Little failed in his attempt to challenge a suspended jail sentence and compensation order imposed for harassing Roy Warne and must now pay both sets of legal fees, thought to amount to more than £100,000.

The costs are payable immediately and if Little does not pay he could have to sell his home and use the proceeds to settle them.

The hearings came after a dispute broke out over rights of way to land at Golden Hill, Whitstable, where the pair live.

A judge at Maidstone County Court imposed a six-month suspended sentence and £950 compensation order in October after Little ignored court orders to leave Mr Warne, a retired barrister, alone.

He had threatened to kill him and attempted to run him off the M2 as they both drove separately to the court hearing, forcing Mr Warne onto the hard shoulder.

Photographs

The incidents at the centre of the case included one in July 2002 outside their homes when the judge said Little knocked Warne to the ground and bit his hand.

On another occasion Little "harassed" Mr Warne by saying "I'll swing for you and I'll kill you."

In another incident he approached Mr Warne when he arrived home in a car with visitors. He was holding a hammer, beckoned to Mr Warne and then took close-up photographs.

He also parked a car across the access to Mr Warne's home and on one occasion when Mr Warne was driving to a court hearing involving the incidents, ran him off the M2 and on to the hard shoulder.

Little challenged his sentence in the Court of Appeal, claiming he was treated unfairly by the judge. His solicitor, William McCormick, argued that he was not given a proper opportunity to instruct new solicitors after his original defence stepped down from the case.

Mr Warne's barrister, George Pullen QC, branded the appeal "hopelessly inarguable" and it was dismissed by two

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