Pig farmer's son who was pulled out of school aged 13 to look after his father's animals wins bitter £1.4m court battle with his mother over the family land

A pig farmer's son who was pulled out of school to tend to his father's animals has beaten his 76-year-old mother in a bitter £1.4 million court battle over the family land.

Barry Harding says since the age of 13 he has 'continually worked' at Cornerfields Farm, in Denham, Buckinghamshire, which has been in the family for nearly 80 years.

He says that having to look after the pigs even as a child meant he was 'prevented from going to school and achieving any educational attainments'. 

He also claims it was his investments of time, labour and money that turned the farm into a success.

Mr Harding's father Trevor died in 2017 and he subsequently fell out badly with his mother Joan Harding, who left the farm, claiming Barry had made her life there 'unbearable'.

She later sued, claiming about £600,000 from her son over accusations that he 'excluded' her from land and exerted 'undue influence' over her whilst getting her to sign her share of the family farm to a trust in 2008.

But after a hearing at Central London County Court, Judge Mark Raeside KC threw out Mrs Harding's allegations and dismissed her claim for £600,000 compensation.

The six-figure claim was 'unsustainable,' he ruled, but said that she would be due a much smaller payment — to be decided at a later date — for being excluded from the farmland since 2017. 

The court heard the Harding family started breeding pigs nearly 80 years ago, firstly under the leadership of Barry's grandfather and then under his father Trevor Harding, but ceased around 20 years ago.

After the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001, Mr Harding said that he had toiled and invested over £500,000 to transform it into its current skip-hire and cattle feed business.

The farm was bought by the family from the council in 2008, with his father's right-to-buy discount being treated as his parents' contribution.

Their shares were then put into life trusts, entitling them to benefit from the farm during their lifetimes, but to then pass to Barry and his ex, Sarah Cox, on death. 

However, Joan claimed the decision to put her share into trust was the result of 'undue influence' from her son, with her barrister Michael Barrow saying Barry had been in prime position to influence his parents. 

'He initiated the preparation of the deeds and settlements, found and instructed the solicitors and presented the documents thereafter,' he told the judge.

'Joan's evidence is that both she and Trevor felt they had no choice other than to sign and execute the documents.

'As Joan's and Trevor's son, all living together at the property, Barry was in a position to exercise control and undue influence over his parents.'

Barry, however, denied being in a 'position of dominance' over his mother and Mr Barrow accepted in court that evidence of actual 'undue influence' in 2008 was 'limited'.

Joan insisted she, her husband and Barry were in partnership, jointly running the farm until Trevor's death in 2017 and that their son has deprived her of her share of income in recent years.

She claimed she had also put time and money into the business over the years, including her wages when she worked elsewhere, and asked the judge to invalidate the documents putting her share in trust.

Her barrister also asked the judge to award her a payment totalling around £600,000, representing compensation for being excluded from the farm since 2017, a share of profits and return of loans she said she had made.

In court, he quizzed Barry about his attitude towards his mother, claiming his behaviour was 'bullying and intimidating and that you wanted your mother out'.

'You made her life unbearable,' he put to him.

Barry denied putting any pressure on his mother, adding that she had voluntarily chosen to go and stay with her sister and brother-in-law.

He insisted his mother could have returned to the farm 'any time she wanted to,' although the barrister said this had proved impossible as Barry had changed the locks.

Barry contested the claims, saying the business had been of 'no value' when he took it over and that his parents had no money to contribute.

Ruling, Judge Raeside said Barry and his parents' relationship had 'irretrievably broken down' just before Trevor's death, aged 77, in 2017.

It had led to Joan wrongly relating the falling out back to the time her share of the farm was placed into trust in 2008, he found.

'It was this behaviour which was transferred back to 2008 as if the same happened then,' he said, finding: 'There was no undue influence.'

The decisions made in 2008 had resulted in a 'perfectly ordinary, not uncommon trust situation for a property,' he said.

'They all benefitted from it, they received independent advice,' he added.

Turning to her claims to a £600,000 payment, he said her bid for repayment of loans was 'unsustainable' because money put in by Joan could not be traced back to show they were loans.

Her claims for other payments were also 'unsustainable,' he said.

The judge however told Joan she would be entitled to a much smaller payment for 'occupational rent,' for Barry having had exclusive use of the farm since 2017.

'This case should be assigned to a chancery trust judge, who can carry out a proper appreciation of the figures, which are certainly not £600,000 as proposed in this trial,' he said.

He dismissed all of her claims.