Islander ran off with married neighbour, court hears 10/5/14
A man ran off with his married neighbour before returning to throw his long-
Ann Wood is suing her former partner Anthony Thompson for £164,377 after he forced her out of her house in Lewis.
She also seeks an court order to stop the property or the croft being sold without her consent.
Ms Wood told a civil court hearing in Stornoway Sheriff Court of the day her world fell apart on 22 July 2011.
She saw his car driving along the road and assumed he was moving stuff from their old house to the nearby property they were building at 21A New Shawbost on the west side of the island.
But he motored straight out of the village and fled the island on the lunchtime ferry
on 22 July 2011 -
A tearful Ms Wood explained how he later texted to say he was not coming back.
The next morning, she was devastated to discover he had been having a secret affair with neighbour, Paula Melrose.
She said Paula’s husband had come looking for his wife and revealed their covert relationship.
The pair disappeared to the mainland together, she told Desmond Cheyne, the advocate representing Thompson.
She had nowhere to live as a legal lease had been drawn up to rent their old property to incoming tenants while the nearly finished new home had no water or sanitation, she added.
She had no choice but to move into what was to be their dream home before it was ready. She continued to pay the builders until all the work was finished.
Ann Wood told Mr Cheyne her ex-
Money her father bequeathed her paid for building the new house, she said.
However, the land it sits on is on a croft which is solely in Anthony Thompson’s name.
Despite promises she could keep the house and apologies for his behaviour, Anthony Thompson returned to Lewis and forced her out, she explained to the court. He and Paula Melrose then moved in.
Stornoway solicitors Ken Macdonald and Co of Stornoway are representing Ms Woods.
Giving evidence in court, she told her QC, Dr Craig Sandison, that Anthony Thompson had “previously wanted to turn everything over to me.”
Shortly before he “turned nasty,” they met in the café in Stornoway library in November that year wanting a reconciliation, she said.
Her voice cracking with emotion, Ms Wood read a letter from Anthony Thompson where he wrote: “I regret leaving.
“You are the most kind and loving person I’ve ever met.”
His letter continued: “I am so sorry for how I have been and what I have done.
“If there is anyway of turning back time I would.”
But Thompson soon “flipped,” phoning her constantly and pursuing complaints about her to her employers which Ann Wood said were rejected as “no case to answer,” the court heard.
Island surveyor Andrew Turley told the court he had valued the house at about £130,000 in October 2012.
Thompson opposes Ms Wood’s claim saying the value is excessive, that he had not benefited by the sum sued for, while Ann Wood used his croft for stabling her horses.
Desmond Cheyne, representing Thompson, said his client had carried out a lot of the ground works, supervised the builders and contributed his labour in the house build.
The hearing before Sheriff David Sutherland has been adjourned to August.