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A glampsite-owning aristocratic couple who starred on TV’s Four in a Bed are being sued for over £700,000 after a guest broke his back on a zipwire at their luxury yurts.
Guy and Alison Lubbock – an offshoot of the Bonham-Carter family and actor Helena’s relations – run Adhurst Yurts, a boutique off-grid glamping operation set in the 500-acre estate surrounding former family seat, grade II-listed stately home Adhurst St Mary, near Petersfield, Hants.
The high-class yurts cost £500 for a weekend and boast “hygge” interiors with clawfoot baths, iron bedsteads and chaise longues, while activities available onsite include bespoke bushcrafting, fly fishing and wild food events, as well as a zipwire.
But the couple are now being targeted with a legal action after a father of two broke his spine while playing with his children on the zipwire at Adhurst in October 2022.
London recruitment consultant Jonathan Sharpe, 36, is seeking over £700,000 in compensation, claiming his life and career have been badly impacted by the injury, which he says he suffered when the zipline broke, causing him to fall “onto his buttocks”.
But lawyers for the glampsite owners, despite admitting fault for the accident, are hotly disputing the amount of damages Mr Sharpe is seeking.
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Guy and Alison Lubbock run Adhurst Yurts, a boutique off-grid glamping operation set in a 500-acre estate (Channel 4/Champion News)
Lawyers for Mr Sharpe say in documents filed with London’s High Court that he paid £1,100 to stay at the “glampsite” with his two young children, having pre-booked the break in July 2022.
“On 20 October 2022, the claimant was at the campsite and was using the zipline with his children,” the documents state.
“The claimant used the zipline, as did his son, who was aged five at the time. The claimant then went on the zipline with his two-year-old daughter and, as he stepped off the zip line platform, the zipline broke. The claimant fell from the platform onto his buttocks.
“As a consequence of the incident, the claimant suffered a L1 burst fracture. He has been experiencing psychiatric symptoms and pain since the incident.”
A burst fracture involves one of the vertebrae making up the spine collapsing in multiple directions.
The L1 vertebra, which is midway down the back at the top of the kidneys, is one of the most common locations for burst fractures, due to its placement at the transition from the rigid thoracic spine to the more flexible lumbar spine.
Mr Sharpe, of Ashvale Road, Tooting, is now suing the couple personally for over £700,000 compensation for his injury, with his lawyers saying, “the claimant states that the facts surrounding the incident speak for themselves”.
Mr Sharpe is also suing the couple’s business insurers, NFU Mutual Insurance Ltd, with his lawyers claiming that the insurance company made an “admission of liability… via email on 6 March 2023”.
In their shared defence to the action, Mr and Mrs Lubbock and their insurers confirm that liability for the accident is conceded.
“It is admitted the claimant suffered some injury as a consequence of the accident, the nature, extent and prognosis for which is in issue,” they add, also insisting it was the wooden handle of the zipline which broke, rather than the line itself as Mr Sharpe claims.
“It is denied that the zipline broke. The cause of the claimant’s fall instead appears to be the failure of the wooden handle, which was found to have split after the accident. The zip line remained intact at all times.”
Mr and Mrs Lubbock’s lawyers also hotly dispute the effects of the injury on Mr Sharpe and the amount of damages claimed, which they say includes claims of almost £10,000 for a post-accident first class trip to Australia, plus £108,324.85 for “future holiday & leisure,” based on assertions that Mr Sharpe now needs to fly first or business class rather than economy because of his injury.
“It is expressly denied the costs of first class travel to Australia are reasonably attributable to the accident,” the defence states.
“It is not admitted that the claimant has any accident-related need for business class travel.”
Mr and Mrs Lubbock are also disputing some of Mr Sharpe’s other claims, including £171,017.60 for future care and assistance, £92,555 for future childcare, £66,598.20 for future gardening and £69,914.41 for future decorating and DIY.
“The claimant is back working full time… it is not admitted that the claimant is unable to return to all of his previous duties, including entertaining clients, on account of the accident,” their lawyers add.
“It is not admitted that the claimant is disadvantaged on the open labour market on account of the accident.”
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Lawyers on behalf of Adhurst Yurts glampsite owners hotly dispute the effects of the injury and the amount of damage being claimed (Supplied by Champion News)
On its website, the Adhurst Yurts management say: “Adhurst, situated within the South Downs National Park, is a 500-acre estate owned by the sixth generation of our family. We offer bespoke bushcraft instruction, guided bird walks, basketry workshops, advanced fly-fishing instruction and catered wild food events.
“Adhurst provide stylish, healthy and ecologically-conscious holidays for everyone from family groups to romantic couples to holidaying pets and nature enthusiasts.
“Adhurst St Mary is the house built by our family in 1858 and lived in continuously by the family until 1993 when we sold it. It sits like an island within the estate, but is owned separately and is reached by a private driveway.
“Bonham-Carter/Lubbock archives are kept both at Hampshire County Archives and others also held privately at Adhurst Farm.
“Helen Bonham-Carter was born and died in the house – as was our grandmother. Helena Bonham-Carter is a cousin and has never lived in this house.
“The estate is approx 500 acres and the grade II house is 30 acres within this. There are now seven families living in Adhurst St Mary house. In World War One, it was a military convalescence hospital and in World War Two, it was Portsmouth Girls School.”
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Adhurst St Mary belongs to the Bonham-Carter family, though the acting star has never lived in the house (Getty)
The Bonham-Carter family has a long history, dating back to MP John Bonham-Carter in the early 1800s, who was uncle to Florence Nightingale.
Alongside actor Helena, ex of film director Tim Burton with whom she had two children, other notable members of the family include Admiral Sir Stuart Sumner Bonham-Carter, who served in both world wars, General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter, former governor of Malta and actor Crispin Bonham-Carter.
The family’s defence to the claim has only recently been filed at the court, but the case has not yet been listed for hearing before a judge.