Solicitor And G.P. In Four-Year : 'Battle Of The Bins' Feud

Not Guilty: Hugh Sorrell

A veteran solicitor charged with harassment was simply defending his strip of land during a four-year wheelie bin battle with his Harley Street doctor neighbour, a judge has ruled.

Hugh Clement Sorrell, 76, found himself arrested and prosecuted after repeated run-ins with Dr. Jayshree Pillaye, 72, outside their apartments in leafy Pinner.

The pair were involved in a dispute over the bins, repeatedly moving each other’s out of the way and Dr. Pillaye also claimed he moved her religious artefacts, with both parties accusing the other of digging up their flowers.

He claims neighbourly relations soured when the general practitioner lost a civil claim against the other leaseholders of Tudor House, Pinner Hill Road in 2013 and was ordered to pay £450,000 court costs.

On Friday at Willesden Magistrates Court Sorrell, a property and lease specialist, was found not guilty of harassing Dr. Pillaye by abusing her between February 17 and August 20, last year.

“The defendant did nothing more than protect his proprietary rights, apart from one incident in four years when he called her a bitch,” ruled District Judge Dennis Brennan.

Giving evidence behind a screen Dr. Pillaye told the trial: “I was in fear every time I stepped out to my bins. Mr. Sorrell said things that were hurtful, fearful and caused me to panic.

“He said that I didn’t own land to the side of my kitchen, that I was squatting and trespassing and that I didn’t own my part of the freehold.

Bins Battle: Dr. Pillaye

“He said that I was a thief and made me doubt whether I owned my flat. Mr. Sorrell is a solicitor and he said it so often I wondered what is the truth and what isn’t and had to look at my own deeds.”

Sorrell told the court: “I was annoyed that she was trespassing, virtually on a daily basis, not one bin, but three and would shunt mine aside.”

He also alleged she dug up lavender flowers he planted.

Dr. Pillaye began recording their confrontations on her phone, saying her neighbour would abuse her from an upstairs window.

“He would say: ‘You are unworthy, go and squat somewhere else.’ I should not be living in fear, I should be enjoying life, I love my flat and neighbours and social network.

“He would refer to my brain as: ‘Sawdust between your ears’ and say: ‘How can you be a doctor if you can’t read?’

“He also used the derogatory term ‘coolie’ and called me a bitch a couple of times and called me a cow and made a moo sound.

“It is dehumanising, I despaired, I felt helpless, there as no civility.”

Battle Of The Bins: Tudor House

Both Sorrell and Dr. Pillaye have resided in their apartments for over thirty years, with the lawyer telling the court he tried to keep her: “As distant as possible.”

She told the court: “It is a constant barrage, saying I’m unworthy to be a human being and he is digging up my plants now.”

As a Tamil Hindu Dr. Pillaye placed artefacts in the disputed area. “Mr. Sorrell said: ‘I don’t care if they are religious things. You are trespassing, that’s my part of the garden.’

“I want to enjoy what belongs to me and planted flowers that reminded me of my childhood, but he dug them up three or four times.”

Sorrell told the trial Dr. Pillaye’s behaviour was motivated by her expensive civil court defeat. “She did not like that she was condemned to indemnity costs.

“She would move her bins onto land comprising my lease and I would move them off. She put her bins totally in my area virtually on a daily basis.

“She did not tend to come out after dark so at sunset I would move them.”

After the not guilty verdict was announced the court heard Dr. Pillaye made a further complaint to police, regarding more recent incidents, which may be subject to investigation.