Reality TV Star Appeals £500k Ruling Over Falcon Stress Deaths
Barnes Thomas, a former art dealer who appeared on Bear Grylls' survival show 'The Island' in 2018, is locked in a high-stakes legal battle at the Court of Appeal. He is challenging a ruling that ordered him to pay approximately £500,000 in compensation and costs after his noisy construction work was found to have caused the stress-related deaths of three valuable gyr falcons owned by his neighbours.
The Dispute Over Sensitive Birds of Prey
The case centres on Mr Thomas's property in St Just, Cornwall, near Land's End, which adjoins land operated by brothers Martin and Scott Nicholas. The brothers run Raptors of Penwith Ltd, a business breeding gyr and peregrine falcons for sale, primarily for falcon racing in Dubai. These birds are described as 'stress monsters' and are highly susceptible to disturbances, with even the sight of a kite on a string potentially terrifying them.
Last year, Judge Russen KC ruled in the High Court that activities on Mr Thomas's land during the breeding seasons—including noisy building work and the positioning of a JCB excavator bucket in the birds' line of sight for three days—created a nuisance. The judge found this caused three falcons to die from stress, seven pairs to fail to breed, and seven eggs to be lost. Mr Thomas was ordered to pay £300,000 in compensation and interest, plus over £180,000 towards the breeders' legal costs.
Arguments at the Court of Appeal
During a two-day hearing, Mr Thomas's barrister, Tom Weekes KC, argued the judgment was fundamentally flawed. He contended that erecting a barn and operating a scaffolding business on agricultural land constituted common and ordinary use. The law, he said, should not allow a neighbour's particularly sensitive trade to unreasonably restrict such activities.
'It would be unfair if the brothers' bird-breeding next door would be allowed to limit his use of his own property—so as to effectively appropriate the neighbour's land as a buffer for the protection of the sensitive trade,' Mr Weekes stated. He likened the situation to London Zoo moving giraffes to a residential area and then suing locals for noise, or an observatory demanding villagers turn off lights at night.
Conversely, Jonathan Seitler KC, representing Raptors of Penwith, argued that the operations—including a 10-metre truck-mounted crane and noisy unloading of granite—were not ordinary uses in the rural context. He emphasised that the judge had considered the character of the locality, where an aviary is an ordinary land use, and found substantial interference that would affect even general livestock like cows during calving.
Background and Broader Implications
Mr Thomas, 30, who grew up on a cattle farm and previously worked as an art dealer, described his experience on 'The Island' as the 'worst experience of my entire life'. Since moving to Cornwall, he has faced local controversy, including creating an illegal lake and a dispute over Christmas lights in his former village of Mousehole.
The appeal judges—Lord Justice Moylan, Lord Justice Nugee, and Lady Justice Whipple—have reserved their decision. The outcome could set a significant precedent for balancing land use rights between neighbours, especially where sensitive businesses or animals are involved. Mr Thomas's legal team warns that upholding the ruling could drastically reduce land utility and value, forcing owners to tip-toe around during breeding seasons for fear of litigation.
