A squatter who took authorized possession of a pensioner’s home after which bought it for £540,000 has claimed it has turned his life right into a ‘nightmare.’
Keith Greatest, 58, has mentioned the notion he’s a ‘thief who cheated an previous man’ price him his profession and meant he misplaced his £75,000 a yr job.
The previous Virgin government spoke out on Monday to attempt to clear his identify after articles over the previous decade have, price him his well being, cash, and the lifetime of his mom, he claims.
The builder has insisted that after spending £345,000 on compensation, £150,000 on renovations, and £400,000 on authorized charges he has made a loss general.
In 1997 Mr Greatest observed that the home in Newbury Park, east London, had been empty for a while and he started renovating it.
The property had belonged to Doris Curtis who died within the 80s and left it to her divorced son Colin.
He then lived there alone till 1996 when he moved out to a different home he inherited.
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Mr Greatest informed the Mail On-line that Mr Curtis ‘didn’t care about the home, by no means went there and he didn’t even learn about it’.
He mentioned: ‘I’ve been portrayed as a thief who cheated an previous man out of his dwelling however that’s not true… the entire thing has been a nightmare.
‘It affected my well being and price me some huge cash. I by no means made something from this and but it’s being made out that I robbed a pensioner.
‘I’ve not made a revenue.’
Mr Curtis continued to pay council tax on the property however didn’t keep it or go to, giving the youthful Mr Greatest the impression that it was now his own residence and he moved into the home in 2016.
After gaining squatters’ rights, he then bought it for £540,000 to the Hayat household in 2020.
Mr Greatest mentioned he misplaced his £75,000 a yr job as an government with Virgin due to ‘all of the detrimental publicity’.
The Mail has reported he’s now unemployed, dwelling in a big home in Essex, and driving a Vary Rover.
‘I went to courtroom eight instances over the home, I used to be sick of it by the top,’ he mentioned. ‘I attempted to settle with the household (of Mr Curtis) earlier than it even got here to courtroom.’
‘It killed my mum,’ he added about her loss of life two years in the past. ‘She noticed the impact that it was having on me. It was terrible. I remorse the impression it had on my well being and that I didn’t make any cash from this.’
The Mail mentioned Mr Curtis, who died in 2018 in his 80s, had spent his closing years dwelling on his £261 per week state pension in a small flat in Romford.
He had misplaced his authorized battle for management of the home in 2016, with proceedings starting in 2012.
After this, he launched a counterclaim however this additionally failed as he was not a registered administrator of his mom’s property.
Mrs Curtis died and not using a will and her son mentioned he had not realised he wanted to use for administration rights,
He mentioned afterward: ‘It’s not truthful. The regulation is an ass. It’s like somebody getting in your automotive after which saying it’s theirs as a result of they’re sitting in it.
‘Individuals can’t imagine it after I inform them. They don’t perceive how anybody might get away with it.’
Mr Greatest mentioned: ‘Beneath the regulation, I had a proper to make this home mine so if anyone has an issue with that, they need to be indignant on the regulation, not me.
‘I’ve completed every thing by the guide. No one was cheated and I legally acquired what was mine.’
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