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| Stephen & Christine Parsons |
A bitter dispute between Thames side residents and a luxury marina saw CCTV cameras smashed and a yacht owner telling a court he ‘fought for his life,’ during a doorstep confrontation.
Residents of million pound homes claim motion-sensor alarms protecting yachts moored at the bottom of their gardens in Hampton constantly wake them at night.
They have also made multiple planning objections to proposals to develop Hampton Riviera Boatyard and claim yacht owners were cashing-in by running illegal B&B’s from their vessels.
Retired construction boss Stephen Howard Parsons, 65, who lives in £1.2m Thames Cottage, Hampton Court Road, East Molesey was caught on camera smashing the cameras one night.
He pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to the security equipment owned by marina boss Myck Djurberg, 58, and yacht owner Klaus Beversluis, 50 on January 8.
Parsons was also convicted of threatening behaviour at Mr. Beversluis’s girlfriend’s home in Dorchester Road, Worcester Park the next day and causing criminal damage to the front door.
He received a twelve-month community order and must complete 80 hours community service.
Parsons was also ordered to pay £100 compensation for Mr. Beversluis’s camera and £150 for Natasha Knight’s front door.
The court made an indefinite restraining order prohibiting him contacting the couple and Mr. Djurberg.
Wimbledon Magistrates Court heard he was caught on camera smashing the CCTV with a large wooden bat at 9.45pm, including one protecting the ‘Lucy Aswell’ one of three boats owned by Mr. Beversluis.
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| Klaus Beversluis & Natasha Knight |
“A baton or stick was used with extreme force five times on Mr. Djurberg’s camera,” said prosecutor Lydia Marshall Bain. “The same person returns and damages the CCTV of a boat moored by the jetty.”
IT Consultant Mr. Beversluis was relaxing on another boat with girlfriend Natasha Knight, 46, who describes herself as an ‘entrepreneur’ when he received a security alert on his phone.
He called the police, but ironically ended up in police cells that night, suspected of assaulting Parsons’s neighbour, former EastEnders actor Will Chitty, as the row escalated.
However, Mr.Beversluis says he was attacked. “I had injuries caused by Will and his wife running after me and pushing me into bushes.”
On January 9 he was at Natasha’s home, along with her sons, aged 12 and 14 years-old, when Parsons turned up, accompanied by his wife Christine.
“He shouted: ‘You’ve made a big f***ing mistake’ and forced his way through the door and I tried to push back. His hands pushed the door and then his leg came through the doorway.
“I almost couldn’t believe it, it was a surreal experience. I knew him from the marina, but to see him shouting at the door was very frightening.
“He was shouting and was very, very aggressive and if he accessed the property there would have been a lot of damage to humans or property. He was rampaging.
“He has assaulted us before and threatened to throw Natasha into the river. He was using all of his force, his leg was blocking the door, I couldn’t close it.
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| Myck Djurberg |
“Natasha’s older son, Owen, was screaming: ‘Mummy, mummy!’ It was a harrowing experience for him, he was very scared.
“Natasha also pushed against the door and we managed to exit him. The door was damaged, bent and would not close properly thereafter.
“I felt very, very shaken, very rattled and fearful that he continued to try and push himself into the house despite a child screaming inside, who he could see in front of him.”
Mr. Beversluis admitted renting out his boats, a sideline shut down by the council after local residents’ objections. “I don’t think that is illegal in this day and age,” he argued.
He said the doorstep confrontation lasted approximately sixty seconds. “When you feel like you are fighting for your life that one minute feels very long indeed.”
Mr. Beversluis suggested the CCTV destruction was in preparation for an assault on him later. “We have photographs of Mr. Parsons walking around the marina at 1.30pm that day taking pictures of where the CCTV was.
“This was so he would know where they were to damage with a baseball bat before the assault on me.”
Natasha told the court: “I just heard him screaming, bellowing. I was scared and there have been lots of threats.”
Parsons told the court he wanted to sound a personal alarm in Mr. Beversluis’s face to give him a taste of what the residents had endured, but the front door was slammed on him.
“The previous night the people in that house had shone high-powered laser lights through our windows and ran off. I was going to insist they stop harassing us at our home address.
“I said in a calm, clear voice: ‘You made a big mistake attacking my family.’
“I tried to set the personal alarm off, but couldn’t get it to work properly. The same two people have alarms at the bottom of my garden that have gone off the previous two days.
“They were so loud all three houses there were continually woken up at night.”
Parsons claimed Mr. Beversluis damaged his own door. “It was slammed in my face with great force.
“I consider myself the victim and I did not go there hot tempered or angry.
“I wanted to sort out a long-standing problem. The people in that house were running an illegal bed and breakfast from the boats.
“The previous night they were not relaxing on their other boat, but were shining lights. He has been intent on provocation and intimidation for months.”
The court heard the local residents have made multiple complaints about the marina to the police, the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, the Environmental Agency and local MP Vince Cable.
Parsons wife Christine said: “They were shining laser lights into our living-room while we were with friends.
“They knew where we lived and we wanted them to know we knew where they lived and to ask them to stop intimidating us.”
Magistrate Hilary Parker told Parsons: “You took with you an alarm with the intention that they should appreciate the sound of it at close quarters.
“You visited that house with the intention of causing Mr. Beversluis alarm and distress. We don’t find your version of events credible.”
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