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Topics: UK News
Dominic Smithers
A millionaire has been jailed after refusing to tear down 'Britain's best man cave'.
Graham Wildin, from Cinderford, Gloucestershire, has been in a lengthy battle with his local council for years after he erected a huge structure in his garden without proper permission back in 2014.
The £200,000 complex boasted a gym, a cinema, squash court, a casino, and even a bowling alley, with neighbours miffed, to say the least.
The 70-year-old had been ordered to take the building down or face a hefty fine of £300,000, but he refused to do so.
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Recently, those who live close by claimed that he also built an indoor swimming pool to go with his lad pad.
Aerial photographs showed a new structure in his back garden alongside the original building.
Speaking at the time, one resident on the road said: ''He's upset everybody on this road by flouting planning rules and then parking his collection of classic cars everywhere.
"He's had a swimming pool built at the back, finished not long ago. That was ongoing for about four or five months.
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"He gets up everybody's back, and to him it's payback time for all the people on this road.
''He's even had his gates repaired to keep everyone away from his house."
But during a hearing at the High Court in Cardiff yesterday (12 August), the court heard that the accountant had been given numerous opportunities to take the property down.
Last year, he was given 18 weeks to take out all the fixtures and fittings, as well as cut off the water, electricity and gas supply to it.
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But when enforcement officers visited Wildin's home on 11 August, they found the boiler working, taps running and toilets flushing.
And while the casino had been taken out, the majority of the work had still to be done, with officers taking dozens of photographs as evidence.
Judge Jarman QC said during the hearing that he knew Wildin was a gambler when he first came across this case, because no rational person would have taken the risk.
Wildin was sentenced to six weeks in prison and ordered to comply with the original order to tear down the man cave within 18 weeks of being released.
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The judge also awarded costs of £10,000 to the council and Wildin was told that if he continued to flout the orders, he would be back in court.