NASSAU-The Court of Appeal on Thursday ordered a family to pay $10,000 in damages and immediately tear down a fence erected on a neighbouring property.
George Hall, his son Bruno Hall, and daughter-in-law Raquel Hall failed to overturn a decision handed down by Justice Ian Winder in 2019.
Anthony Dean sued them for land trespass and the removal of a chain link fence that enclosed just under half an acre of property.
Gerorge Hall, who admitted to erecting the fence in 2012, counterclaimed and sought title for the disputed property through squatters’ rights.
He argued that he had cancelled Dean’s title by his undisturbed occupation of the land, which he had farmed since 1986.
However, Justice Winder determined that no farming took place as there was just one banana tree on the property.
Instead, he found that Hall had maintained the land “to stop robbers from coming in the area.”
Justice Dean acquired the property when his brother, John, transferred it to him and his now-deceased brother, Jerome Dean, by a deed of gift executed on July 9, 1960.
The property is a portion of a larger tract of three acres located south of lots 52 and 53 Seabreeze.
George Hall bought the lots in 1984. He lives on 52 and his son and daughter-in-law acquired built their home on lot 53 after acquiring the property from him.
Dean’s property was land locked prior to the construction of the Charles Saunders Highway. As a result, Dean and his nephew, Julian Dean, offered Hall an exchange of land to access his property.
At first, Hall was receptive to the proposal. As a result, he hired a surveyor in 1991 to lay out a plan showing a 30-foot accessway along the boundary of lot 52 Seabreeze.
However, Hall later rejected the proposal because his family feared the access would disrupt their peaceful occupation of the land.
In 2001, the Government of The Bahamas compulsorily acquired a portion of Dean’s land to build the highway. They are still in negotiations over the compensation for the acquisition.
Dean discovered the trespass when he decided to sell his property in 2013 and hired realtor Jack Isaacs to draw a plan of the property. The fence was hidden by foliage and only visible by aerial photography.
He sued when Hall refused to remove the fence.
Tanya Wright represented Dean and Christina Galanos appeared for the Halls.
