When Jamie and Eda Pierce snapped up what looked like their perfect rural retreat, the deal must have felt almost unbelievable.

The pristine five-bedroom manor-style home sits within seven acres of mature gardens and grounds, with a swimming pool, tennis court, paddocks, stables and even a private helipad among its standout features.

The couple, both company directors, completed the purchase for £3.15million — a reduced price that suggested they had landed an enviable country-house bargain.

Former owners Paul and Elizabeth Nott had originally listed the property for £3,395,000, but the Pierces succeeded in negotiating £245,000 off the asking price.

But three years after that happy day in August 2022 — almost exactly to the day — their dream of a quiet, idyllic life at the secluded home in Pootings, a hamlet near Crockham Hill in Kent, was destroyed overnight in devastating fashion.

At 5.05pm on Friday, August 22 last year – just minutes after the local council shut up shop for the bank holiday weekend – a group of travellers stormed in and set up an illegal camp just yards from the couple’s front door.

In a now familiar tactic, which locals say was planned with military precision, the travellers arrived with trucks and excavators along with their caravans and mobile homes.

Ancient hedgerows were hacked down to make way for a new entrance and driveway, and within hours tarmac had been laid on what had been an empty field opposite the couple’s home, on the other side of a narrow country lane.

Overnight, electricity cables and water pipes were installed and buried, while septic tanks, a sewage treatment infrastructure, waste pipes and fencing were put in place on the six-acre site on Green Belt land, which quickly became home to four families including 16 children.

The ‘battleground’ is just a ten-minute drive from Chartwell – the beloved family home of Sir Winston Churchill from 1922 until his death in 1965.

Now, perhaps showing some Churchillian resolve of their own, Jamie, 50, and Eda, 51, have decided enough is enough and have launched a multi-million-pound legal battle following the invasion.

But it’s not the travellers that they have set their sights on.

Instead, they have issued proceedings against Paul and Elizabeth Nott – claiming they have been the victims of a wicked deception at the hands of the former owners.

Jamie – who until recently was the deputy chief executive of one of the UK’s leading construction businesses that specialise in healthcare – and his wife have accused the Notts of ‘fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit’ over the sale of the property.

They claim the vendors knew all along that travellers were plotting to set up home on the site, but deliberately hid this from them so they could escape the upcoming mayhem and cash in on the sale of their home.

The Pierces allege that before buying their new home they had specifically enquired as to whether the Notts were aware of ‘any plans to alter, develop or change the use of any neighbouring land within a quarter of a mile’ of the property.

They claim the Notts’ solicitor told their lawyer: ‘Not to our clients’ knowledge’.

The couple say the declaration was false – and the Notts knew it.

They now appear to have turned detectives and have uncovered a series of emails which allegedly reveal that Paul Nott played a key role in an unsuccessful campaign to try to head off the threat of travellers buying the land – dating back to the summer of 2021.

He and another local resident had even tried to buy the plot of land themselves after it was put up for sale.

Issuing a writ at the High Court, the Pierces insist they would never have bought the property if they had been told the truth.

They now claim their home, which has been turned into a fortress – bristling with security cameras along with high wooden gates and warning signs – is worthless.

The couple want their contract of sale ripped up and want to be put back into the position they would have been in had they not bought the house.

They are seeking the return of the £3.15million, along with all sums they have spent on the house as well as damages for deceit, interest and expenses including legal fees and stamp duty.

The Notts – who now live in a £1.5million six-bedroom modern home around five miles away – have yet to file a response to the writ.

Legal documents obtained by the Daily Mail reveal how a neighbour of the Notts first raised concerns in 2021 about the sale of the agricultural plot known as Seasons Farm, which is surrounded on three sides by land owned by the National Trust.

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In an email to other locals, the neighbour wrote: ‘Just a heads-up, as we live opposite the gate to Seasons Farm, we can see that there are viewings of the land going on several times a day now, some with the estate agent but most without.

‘Worryingly, most of the viewers look quite suspicious, especially those without the estate agent in attendance.’

The documents state that in September 2021, Mr Nott and another member of the local community offered to buy the farm from the then owner ‘to protect the plot from unwanted development’.

Their offer was rejected and the land was sold in October 2021 to Patrick Delaney, who is said to have connections with the traveller community.

He allegedly refused to provide assurances that the land would not be used for traveller homes, and locals insisted he had previously been involved in the development of agricultural land for the use of travelling communities.

Local meetings were held and Mr Nott is said to have been at the head of an email chain sent by one resident calling for a residents’ group to be set up to ‘deal with planning, the politicians and Patrick Delaney’.

Mr Nott allegedly replied: ‘This is a concerning situation, forming a residents association would be the best way forward so please count me in.’

He also received an email from local planners saying Mr Delaney planned to submit an application for development and was included in a further group message to local MP Laura Trott.

Mr Nott was said to be a founder member of the Pootings Residents’ Association, which was set up to fight the development and that he and his wife attended the group’s formation meeting in February 2022.

Shortly afterwards, approaches were made to a leading barrister who specialises in planning issues to ‘advise and act’ in a bid ‘to defeat the development proposals’.

At the same time, in the spring of 2022, the couple put their home up for sale, the writ claims.

Setting out the Pierces’ claim, their barrister, Jonathan Seitler KC, wrote: ‘Had the defendants not made the false representation and had instead confirmed that the owner of Seasons Farm was likely to have and to make development proposals, the claimants would not have purchased the property.

‘They had no intention of purchasing property which was adjacent to land used by the travellers’ community.’

Mr Delaney went on to put in the first of four unsuccessful bids to change the use of Seasons Farm from agricultural to residential just months after the couple moved into their new home.

In July 2025, he sold the land to the four traveller families – who went on to transform the site into a caravan park within 48 hours after their ‘cynical’ bank holiday raid.

Horrified residents told how, on the day they descended on the site, large convoys of vehicles continued to arrive through the night as frantic construction work was accompanied by ‘flashing lights and loud hailers’.

One local complained the invasion created ‘wholly unacceptable levels of noise and disturbance, leaving nearby residents feeling intimidated, distressed, and powerless to intervene’.

They added: ‘Any attempts to challenge the activity were met with intimidation.’

By the time a High Court injunction was served on the Sunday morning, the majority of the works had been completed and the families, including 16 children, were quickly installed in their new homes.

Locals say the travellers’ arrival in Pootings – which had been home to 60 residents living in 27 properties – increased the number of dwellings by 44 per cent and the number of people living there by 38 per cent overnight.

A series of legal actions followed while members of the group were found in May this year to be in contempt of court for defying court orders and continuing work on the site.

The same month, a retrospective planning application by the travellers for permission to develop the site was rejected by Sevenoaks District Council.

One local who objected to the development said: ‘Granting planning permission of any kind would be tantamount to endorsement of loutish, anti-social behaviour.

‘If this applicant “gets away” with retrospective permission, why can’t we all behave like that to get what we want?’

Residents insist their lives continue to be blighted by the camp, saying they have suffered ‘significant harm’.

Locals say they have been plagued by ‘persistent noise from machinery and quad bikes, often at unsociable hours’, while complaining of powerful ‘intrusive’ floodlighting at the site that ‘is never turned off at night’.

It’s all a far cry from the quiet and peaceful sanctuary that Jamie and Eda Pierce sought when they bought their new home.

The Notts declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail last week. 

A father jailed for stealing a mobile phone is set to be released after spending 20 years behind bars on an indefinite prison sentence — but his family say the system has already “stolen” his life.

Leroy Douglas, 45, was among five prisoners whose cases were reviewed by the United Nations, which concluded that their continued imprisonment amounted to arbitrary detention under international law.

Although Leroy completed the minimum two-and-a-half-year tariff imposed by the court in 2005, he has remained in custody under the widely criticised Imprisonment for Public Protection, or IPP, regime.

His expected release next month comes as pressure intensifies to abolish IPP sentences, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledging to bring the system to an end before the current Parliament finishes.

But for Leroy’s family, the decision follows two decades of anguish and lost time. During his years in prison, the father missed major moments that can never be recovered, including the death of his teenage daughter.

‘It’s like they’ve just locked him up and thrown the key away, and just forgotten about him,’ his sister Natalie Douglas told the Daily Mail. 

‘His life has been stolen from him, just for stealing a mobile phone.’

She continued: ‘He has been in for so long. It’s just been horrible not having my brother, and growing up together, isn’t it? And my mum not having her son there. All my family missed him.

‘I know it was wrong for him to steal, but taking a Nokia phone? He never used any violence. 

‘But, I know that’s not an excuse. I know this, but he just took a Nokia phone and 20 years for a phone – that’s barbaric. That’s crazy.’

Leroy spent time in HMP Stocken in Stretton, Rutland, and now waits in HMP Erlestoke, in Wiltshire, before he is to be transferred to a hostel in October – which is hours away from his family.

Among the many milestones he has missed in prison was the devastating passing of one of his daughters, who died at the age of 19. 

‘He has two daughters. One passed away when she was 19,’ Natalie said. ‘My brother hasn’t been able to even grieve for her.’

Leroy was convicted for crimes including shoplifting as a teenager and young man. He was then sentenced for stealing a mobile phone from his cousin’s boyfriend, while addicted to drugs.  

Instead of a fixed term two and a half year custody sentence, Leroy was sentenced under the IPP system – introduced in 2005 for offenders considered dangerous but whose crimes were not serious enough to warrant a life sentence.

Although prisoners were given a minimum length of time, completing it did not automatically result in release. 

They could remain in prison indefinitely until the Parole Board was satisfied that it was safe for them to return to the community. This process includes a review at least once every two years.

The system was abolished for new cases in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands of prisoners subject to sentences which could continue long after their minimum tariffs had expired – as with Leroy.

‘Even though he’s coming home. He’s not coming home, really, is he? Because he’s still in the system, you know,’ Natalie said. 

‘He did commit petty theft, but that’s not worthy of 20 years behind bars. 

‘He stole from cars, like smashing windows, but nothing like violent. He hasn’t got one violent bone in his body.

‘He’s been cheeky with officers in prison but his behaviour has been good. He hasn’t had any fights.’ 

Leroy’s release is prefaced with a series of conditions, including abiding by a curfew, being monitored with a GPS tag and being tested for drugs. 

His case has gained renewed attention because of the wider political debate over the future of IPP prisoners and the Government’s controversial early prison release scheme.

The Government has been hit by backlash over the prospect of some serious offenders being released before the end of their sentences, including the killers of PC Harper.

But Leroy’s family have condemned the timing of the scheme, with the aim to combat prison overcrowding, which plans to release prisoners early while their loved one has remained behind bars for decades. 

Notably, ministers are finding extra cell spaces by releasing inmates serving IPPs. This move has been criticised over the argument many IPP prisoners have been assessed as too dangerous to release.

‘They’re releasing people early now,’ Natalie said. ‘And yes, my brother should have been one of the first ones, I think, to be released.’

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She believes Leroy could have been released years ago.

‘He’s fit for release. He was fit for release a long time ago, so I don’t understand why they’ve kept him in so long,’ Natalie said.

‘It make me feel very angry because for 20 whole years, he’s been locked up in jail when he should have been out a very long time ago for stealing a mobile phone.’

The UN ruling has piled fresh pressure on the Government and provided a major boost to the families’ long-running fight for justice.

In a damning opinion, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded the prisoners had been detained arbitrarily and urged Britain to take immediate steps to remedy their situation.

For Natalie, the finding was a watershed moment, publicly validating what her family had insisted for years.

Asked about the UN’s conclusion, she recalled her reaction: ‘Oh, terrible!’

The ruling, she said, finally put an international stamp on concerns the family had been voicing for years.

‘You know, and it made us feel like we are like fighting a losing battle because they’re always gonna win, isn’t it? What can we do?

‘But we knew it was wrong anyway, but what could we do? I’m glad that it is finally out in the public and they’ve admitted that it is wrong.’

The issue is no longer confined to individual cases. The Government has now committed itself to ending the use of IPP sentences and addressing their continuing consequences.

Campaigners have welcomed the announcement, although they have stressed that legislation alone will not undo the damage caused by years spent in prison or on indefinite licences. 

More than 2,000 people remain affected by the legacy of the system, including prisoners still in custody and those released but subject to IPP licences – strict probation rules.

For Leroy, the immediate consequence of the developments is that he will finally be able to leave prison after two decades.

Natalie said her mother was desperate to have her son home after years of being separated from him.

‘My mum is fine, but she just can’t wait to have him home,’ she said.

‘Obviously, it’s been horrendous, you know, not being able to like see her then every day. It’s been terrible for her.’

Leroy is set to move into a hostel for former prisoners next month, where he could remain for up to two years while he adjusts to life outside prison.

‘He haven’t stepped foot outside for 20 years, so I can imagine like he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed himself,’ Natalie said. 

She said the family would simply be there for him and take things slowly. ‘Just go with the flow and just see what happens,’ she said.

The question now facing the Government is what happens to prisoners like Leroy who have already spent years beyond their minimum tariffs.

Mr Burnham has said that people who have served their time should be considered for release rather than remaining in prison simply because of the legacy of an abolished sentencing system. 

He has pledged to bring forward legislation to end the injustice of IPPs before the end of Parliament.

For Leroy’s family, however, the political debate is secondary to the fact that after 20 years, he is finally coming home.

Reflecting on what she believes her brother would have done should he not be behind bars, Natalie said: ‘He would have settled down with children, and maybe have set up his own business. 

‘His life has really been ruined. It’s been stolen away.’ 

After years of uncertainty, his family finally know that the prison sentence is coming to an end.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Norris said: ‘There are individuals who have served many years beyond their original tariff and we need to look carefully at how they can progress safely through the system. 

‘We are already increasing the frequency of Parole Board reviews and looking at what additional support is needed to help suitable prisoners prepare for release.

‘We’re going to take a cross-party approach to this issue, these are complex cases, involving important public protection and victim considerations.’

Do you have a story? Email isabella.machin@dailymail.co.uk 

A 30-year-old businesswoman caught driving with drug levels eight times above the legal limit has avoided an immediate prison sentence.

Lucy Newall, of Southdene in Kirkby, received five drug-driving convictions after police stopped and arrested her on multiple occasions over the past three years.

The care company manager had been facing 12 weeks behind bars after admitting being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of drugs.

However, sentencing her at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on September 3, District Judge Mary Dowrick chose not to jail Newall. Instead, she imposed a 12-month community order requiring her to complete 15 rehabilitation activity days.

The court was told Newall began using the Class B drug, which can cost as little as £2 a gram, during an abusive relationship. Her addiction, magistrates heard, had become so severe at points that it left her bed-bound.

In one instance, Newall ploughed her £30,000 Cupra SUV into a set of railings. 

The first arrest was on January 3 this year, when police spotted her sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2025 Peugeot 208 with the engine running about 9.45pm. 

They approached the car – parked on Leeds Street in Liverpool – and asked Newall to get out while they searched it. 

Officers discovered traces of white powder on a bank card in the centre console and in a snap bag that was seized from the car.

Newall failed a roadside drug test and was taken to a police station where tests showed she had 160 micrograms of ketamine per litre of blood in her system. The legal limit is 20 micrograms. 

She was arrested again on March 11, after she crashed a recently registered Cupra Formentor VZ into pedestrian railings in Kirkby. 

Officers called to the scene found remnants of white powder around the car’s central console and on a £5 note rolled into a tube in the driver’s footwell.

Newall again failed a roadside drug test and was taken into custody. A blood test showed 160 micrograms of ketamine per litre of blood in her system. 

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The test also showed the presence of cocaine but below the drug-drive limit.

Details of Newall’s previous drug-driving convictions were not disclosed during the hearing. But her lawyer Elizabeth Manning said: ‘They correlate with her drug addiction issues and significant life trauma that she has suffered.’

She told the judge: ‘She was in a traumatic abusive relationship and sought solace in ketamine use. But it spiralled out of control.

‘She did manage at one stage to get it in hand but following the loss of both grandmothers she found herself in the cycle as before, this time more serious, resulting in health problems which meant she was out of work.

‘She is really suffering as a result and has problems with her bladder at the moment. Sometimes she is able to go about her business. Other days, she is bed bound due to the pain and she is seeking help with that.

‘She has put herself in rehab before but has struggled again and she does not want to be in this position. She does not want to be before the court. 

‘She desperately wants to be back in work in the care sector.’

District Judge Mary Dowrick told Newall: ‘I have heard about the trauma you have suffered, more recently but also in childhood.

‘I know you have health issues and I can take this into account. More importantly, you pleaded guilty at the first occasion in court and because of these mitigating factors I do think I can step back from a custodial sentence.’

Ketamine is soaring in popularity as an illegal party drug, new figures show, as police seize more of it than amphetamines.

Home Office figures reveal forces recorded 1,845 offences of possessing the veterinary tranquilliser in 2025-26, up 151 per cent from 735 in 2020-21.

By comparison, amphetamine possession has more than halved over the same five years, falling from 2,576 offences to 1,209.

The data will intensify concerns over ketamine becoming a dominant drug among young people despite grave risks – with a single ‘hit’ costing less than a pint of beer.

Pala Negara has opened up about her overwhelming grief after the death of her newborn son.

The model and Ex on the Beach star revealed on Monday that her baby boy, named Harmony Hunter, was born on August 28 and died only hours later.

In an emotional Instagram post, Pala shared a series of photos showing her with partner Chris Hunter, a Byron Bay hairdresser, and their two young children as she displayed her baby bump.

She went on to share the heartbreaking details of losing her youngest child, while also revealing she had fought for her own life after suffering a postpartum haemorrhage following his birth.

‘Creating life with the love of my life has been the most profound healing journey I could have never imagined being written into our journey,’ she wrote in a lengthy and deeply moving caption.

‘Growing life for nearly ten months, growing our family, falling so deeply in love in a union that was always destined to be, falling in love with the life we have created for our family, birthing life, and then birthing death has been incomprehensible. 

‘My body feels broken and aches for our baby, the life we grew together. I don’t think we will ever know how to move through this heartbreak.’

Pala continued: ‘Our little boy Harmony Hunter, due August 8, born August 28, 2026 at 4.27am at 42 weeks and 5 days, in the most powerful birth of our lives, passing peacefully in our arms at 8pm that night.

‘Our hearts sit in deep gratitude to our friends who have loved and cared for us this past week. 

‘To our community, to Lismore Hospital who worked tirelessly to save Harmony and treat me for postpartum haemorrhage, the NeoRESQ team who flew to us and continued to spend hours trying to save our little boy, and to Gold Coast University Hospital who held us so deeply as we spent three nights and four days in Comfort Care as a family. 

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‘We will soon lay our angel to rest on Bundjalung Country where he was born, the land that has held my family and continues to hold our family.’

She concluded: ‘We know you will return to us again old soul. We can feel you surrounding us, our Angel.’

The post was inundated with supportive comments from the model and influencer’s famous friends. 

‘Oh my darling heart, you Wonder Woman. Loving you both so much,’ commented P.E Nation designer Pip Edwards. 

‘Pal… sending strength your way,’ wrote Whitefox founder Marty Fox. 

Influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews simply added a white heart emoji, while model Sarah Stephens wrote: ‘Oh Pala, I am so sorry.  My heart breaks for you two. Sending all my love.’

The Balinese, Byron Bay-based model appeared on the reality series Ex on the Beach: Couples in 2023. 

Represented by GIANT Model Management, she has appeared in campaigns for Myer alongside Jennifer Hawkins, Carla Zampatti and Nude by Nature. 

She shares two older children with her hairdresser partner, Chris Hunter.  

If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.