[ad_1]
A professional installation worker has been ordered to pay a millionaire banker more than 50,000 euros after organizing the robbery of his villa on the French Riviera in retaliation for an unpaid 9,000-euro bill.
Ivan Ritossa and his lawyer wife Marina said Bruce Pearce had organized the robbery of their spacious villa on the Cote d’Azur as an act of revenge in November 2019.
The couple owns a milionë 10 million mansion in London, but said the security camera system installer was angry about delays in paying his bill at their holiday home.
The London regional court was told that after agreeing to install security cameras in the exclusive St Jean Cap Ferrat area, Mr Pearce himself organized the robbery of the villa after he had created an irrational hatred towards Ms Ritossa.
The couple sued Pearce and its installation company Elegant Integration for ,5 58,592 in damages, plus kost 145,000 in attorney’s fees.
Pearce denies the absurd allegations and has counter-sued for paying his rreth 8,000 bill.
But Judge David Saunders awarded Pearce just 3 3,000 over his unpaid bill, and ordered him and the company to pay customers 50 50,000 in damages – after deciding on the odds that he could be the organizer. of robbery.
Ritossa, former senior executive of Barclays Bank, is accredited for “transformation and modernization of the institution’s foreign exchange branch”, according to the media.
Their home in the Cote d’Azur has spacious gardens, swimming pool, main house and a small villa separately for guests, where family members are welcomed by three servants when they come to visit, Ritossa told the court.
The robbery at the defendants’ villa occurred on November 30, 2019 when objects or systems installed by the defendant were damaged or taken.
The banker said that after Pearce agreed in 2018 to install the security system, but their relationship deteriorated as Ritossa complained that the work was left unfinished and the system was not functioning properly.
While Pearce had refused to do the rest of the work if not paid in advance.
After breaking into 2019, Pearce had sent an email to the couple telling them it would no longer work for them.
Lawyers said the robbery involved disabling and removing the alarm system installed by the defendants.
“Nothing was taken except items installed by Pearce,” the court was told.
Prosecutors said Pearce was the only person who could destroy evidence of forcible entry into the home.
Rowan Pennington-Benton, Pearce’s lawyer, said there was no direct evidence suggesting Pearce was the perpetrator of the attack.
“He understands that they are angry but he continues to defend himself by saying that they are wrong and that they should not have brought the issue here. “Mr. Pearce is a hard-working and modest person.”
But deciding in favor of the couple, Judge Saunders said: “In the course of these unusual events, there is indeed no direct evidence against the accused, but the stolen equipment and the professional way of uninstalling them suggest that it was committed by someone angry with “Ritossa, not an ordinary robber.”
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link