A South London man has been sentenced to six months in prison for repeatedly attempting to build a house extension without the required planning permission, in what a judge described as a deliberate and flagrant breach of a court order.
Background of the Case
Trevor Hadjimina, who has lived at his property on Relf Road in Peckham since 1991, first faced legal action from Southwark Council in 2017 over his efforts to build on top of a single-storey extension. In 2018, the council obtained an injunction prohibiting him from carrying out unauthorised works after he claimed the structure was a caravan. The injunction required him to cease all work and remove a timber frame structure and four courses of brickwork that he had added to the extension. He complied temporarily but resumed construction last year.
Return to Court
The council returned to the High Court, seeking a finding of contempt of court. Mr Justice Cotter ruled in March that two allegations of contempt were proven but delayed sentencing after Hadjimina indicated he was willing to dismantle the structure. However, at a hearing on Thursday, which Hadjimina did not attend, the judge imposed a six-month sentence after the council reported that building works had resumed.
The judge noted an extensive history of Hadjimina's attempts to build. After removing the timber structure, he began constructing a substantial brick structure in its place. During the March hearing, Hadjimina argued that he was a 'freeman of the land' and not bound by the injunction, a position the judge called 'hopelessly misconceived' and 'nonsense'.
Sentencing Remarks
Handing down the sentence, Mr Justice Cotter stated: 'These were serious breaches. I am wholly satisfied that Trevor breached the injunction order deliberately rather than inadvertently and was fully aware that he was openly defying a court order. This was a deliberate and flagrant breach of the order and in effect amounted to a challenge to the power and authority of the court.'
The judge emphasised that the gravity of the contempt precluded a suspended sentence, adding: 'This is the danger of the various freeman of the land theories; they bring the defendants into conflict with the rule of law. It is not a conflict that they will win and in the process, they frequently, as with Trevor, act to their own very significant detriment.'
Hadjimina now faces six months in prison for his continued defiance of planning regulations and court orders.
