Buy-to-let landlord Fergus Wilson has threatened to start legal proceedings against a YouTuber.
Wilson says he may take out a private prosecution against Danny Hyde, who runs Danny Hyde TV, if he does not pay £10,000. Wilson is angry about a video criticising the landlord’s policy to ban non-white tenants “because of the curry smell they leave behind”.
A court ruled last November that Wilson had acted unlawfully and he was handed an injunction banning him from applying criteria discriminating against “coloured” tenants or those of Indian or Pakistani backgrounds. The injunction remains in place for three years.
Hyde took to YouTube in March last year to criticise Wilson in a video aimed at his 1,200 subscribers a few days after the injunction.
Nearly eight months later, Hyde received a letter to his home in Glastonbury, Somerset, demanding to know if he was behind the video.
Wilson told The Metro that it was not what Hyde said but “the way he said it” and that if he does not settle in court, then he intends to take out a private prosecution against him.
Wilson said: “I will bankrupt him if he can’t pay. He should not have done it at the start. If you start doing these things, you are responsible for the consequences.”
Hyde, who claims to have only £100 to his name, has since posted another video thanking Wilson for the news coverage brought about by the legal action.
Hyde says in the video: “It’s quite clear that he [Wilson] wants to squash me like a bug. He is saying that if I don’t pay the £10,000 then he is going to bankrupt me. I have got about one hundred quid, mate. Do you want my Xbox as well? What about my slippers?”
Wilson is reported to have sold around half his portfolio of properties in Kent, thought to be worth around £250m, in 2016, according to the Financial Times.
Comments (6)
Having looked at the you tube video (using the metro link) they are as bad as each other. I see Mr Hyde or his supporters are taking the threat seriously as they are now crowdfunding to raise funds for a defense!
And that’s why landlords enjoy the reputation they do. No one ever reports on the good ones.
Wasn’t he a maths teacher before he became a property magnate? Bet his former pupils could tell us some stories of what a complete git he was…..
Or become very rich???? Don’t get me wrong neither Mr Fergus nor Mr Hyde (watch his video via the metro link) come out of this well!
Fergus Wilson, a lesson in being able to dish it out, but not take it. i.e. a complete lack of self-awareness and empathy.
Doesn’t Mr Wilson sound like a very nice sort of chat. Just the sort of landlord we would all want!