A property mogul has been given a restraining order after appearing in court over claims he threatened to "punch" a council worker's "head in".

Fergus Wilson had denied the charge of conveying a threat for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety ahead of a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, where the case was dismissed.

It related to allegations the multi-millionaire landlord made the threat during a phone call to Mark Stuart in October 2018.

The two parties had previously "crossed swords" almost a decade earlier in 2009, when Mr Wilson alleged the complainant had made derogatory comments about his wife, Judith, in open court.

The 71-year-old, of Peens Lane, Boughton Monchelsea, told KentOnline after the hearing: "It's been said that I've been slapped with the restraining order, but if you are found not guilty, you can't go slapping people with anything.

"It's what I'd call playground justice, where you say 'you go and play on one side, and you go and play on the other' - that's what a restraining order is.

"I've been threatened with being stabbed in Maidstone three times, and I've been threatened with being shot six times - that's nine threats to kill but the police couldn't care less.

"Yet they want to pursue something with a man who was upset because I said I would have punched his head in.

"The whole thing was a load of nonsense and a waste of public money.

"Because it was me, they wanted to make an issue, but they have shot themselves in the foot."

The two-year restraining order requires the landlord not to contact the complainant directly or indirectly, or refer to him on social media or in any other publication.

Mr Wilson also announced this month he would no longer be letting homes in Maidstone and Ashford, where he has owned hundreds of properties in recent years, as part of his retirement plans.

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