The daughter of a Georgian billionaire and her husband are suing for more than £36m after claiming the London mansion they bought was “infested with millions of moths”, the high court heard.
Iya Patarkatsishvili and Dr Yevhen Hunyak bought the early Victorian seven-bedroom Notting Hill home in west London – with pool, spa, gym, wine room, library, cinema, and a “snoring room” designed for peaceful sleep – for £32.5m in May 2019.
Days after moving in they spotted signs of an infestation that would go on to destroy clothing and ruin their wine, resulting in them suing the house seller, William Woodward-Fisher.
At one point, insects were landing on the couple and their two children’s toothbrushes, cutlery and plates of food, Hunyak told the court, while he had to tip away glasses of wine after discovering moths floating there.
John McGhee KC, for the couple, said they were swatting about 100 moths a day and even after intensive sprays and expert treatment still maintain a daily kill count of up to 35. They say the source of the infestation is wool insulation behind walls and ceilings.
They are suing Woodward-Fisher, 68, a property developer who formerly competed for Great Britain as a rower, claiming he was either guilty of “fraudulent misrepresention” or negligent in failing to disclose previous moth issues when answering pre-sale inquiries about the possibility of “vermin” in the house.
The payout they are claiming would include Woodward-Fisher buying back the house and compensating them for all expenses and inconvenience caused by the moth menace, a total of more than £36m. The couple claims it would cost almost £10m to replace all the woollen insulation in the building.
Woodward-Fisher denies all claims, insisting that he gave honest and full replies on the pre-sale inquiries form, and that as far as he knew any previous moth problems had been eliminated by the time of the move. He also says the couple’s valuation of how much it would cost to remedy the problem is massively overblown, arguing that the true repair bill would be £162,652.
Jonathan Seitler KC, for Woodward-Fisher, said he was honest when dealing with the inquiry about possible previous “vermin infestation”, having told his solicitor they had experienced problems with moths, only to be assured that moths were not vermin and therefore not relevant to this inquiry.
Part of the legal debate is the question of whether moths are vermin and therefore have to be included in the inquiry form answer.
The court heard that Woodward-Fisher bought the site in 2011 and lived there with his wife, Kerry, 64, an interior designer. The house was extended and radically remodelled before being sold to Patarkatsishvili, 41, the daughter of Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Georgian businessman who fell out with Vladimir Putin and moved to the UK in 2000, and Hunyak, 50, a paediatric dentist who practises in Chelsea.
McGhee told Mr Justice Fancourt the presence and cause of the infestation was well known to Woodward-Fisher. The insects and treatment had forced Woodward-Fisher and his family to check into a hotel and leave their dog elsewhere to clear the way for a major “spray” on one occasion, he added.
The couple is asking the judge to reverse the house sale on the basis of alleged “fraudulent misrepresention” so that they get their £32.5m back, plus compensation for other losses, including £50,000 for moth-shredded clothes and more than £3.7m they paid in stamp duty. They have also presented alternative cases, seeking more than £16m to mark their losses and the diminished value of the property, or alternatively about £13m to cover losses and the cost of further works.
Seitler said his client has enlisted pest controllers in 2018 who “appeared to have succeeded in their task by July 2018”, and moths were no longer a problem when they moved out in 2019.
The trial continues, but the judge is expected to reserve his decision until a later date.
