Neighbour row erupts over washing clothes leaves father and son facing £20k bill

A neighbour row has broken out over washing clothes – leaving a father and son facing an eyewatering £20,000 bill.

A father and son have been ordered to pay the hefty sum in legal costs following a bitter dispute with their neighbour over a passageway and garden access.

Robin Larkins and his elderly father Derek were sued by musician Jodie Schloss after she accused them of harassment and trespass at their north London property.

The row reached its peak when the Larkins family's washing was discovered drying on Ms Schloss's private patio.

Both men have now agreed not to enter her passageway or patio again, but must cover her legal expenses.

Judge Stephen Hellman, sitting at Mayor's and City County Court, ruled the substantial bill was justified because Derek Larkins had forced the gate open twice.

The three parties all reside in garden flats within a five-storey Victorian villa on Strathray Gardens in Swiss Cottage.

Properties in the affluent north London street frequently sell for more than £2million.

Both Ms Schloss and Robin Larkins hold rights to use the shared garden at the rear.

Robin Larkins can reach it directly through his back door, while Ms Schloss accesses it via a passageway that forms part of her home.

And, for three decades, she had permitted other residents to use this passage to reach the garden, which Derek Larkins maintains as the building's gardener.

However, in August 2025, Ms Schloss changed her position due to what her barrister described as "justified privacy concerns" and wrote to residents withdrawing her consent.

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Her barrister John Clargo told the court: "On September 1, 2025, Derek Larkins insisted he had a right to use the passageway, and Robin Larkins threatened to rip the gate out."

The following morning, Ms Schloss discovered damage to the gate lock and left after feeling unsafe.

CCTV footage later showed Derek Larkins using a crowbar on the gate, with Robin later replacing the lock and failing to provide Ms Schloss with a key.

She subsequently changed the locks back herself.

Derek Larkins forced the lock again on March 22, 2026, and both men used the passage multiple times that day and on March 24.

On April 9, 2026, the Larkins family's laundry appeared on Ms Schloss's patio.

Representing himself, Robin Larkins told the court he acted to protect other residents' garden access.

"This whole claim doesn't really affect me because I do have direct access from my flat into the garden," he told the judge.

"My behaviour was only because we believe we were in the right and that all the people in the building should have access to the garden. There's no maliciousness in it."

He explained his cleaner had hung the washing on the patio without realising and had been told not to repeat the mistake.

Following a three-hour hearing, Judge Hellman accepted the men's legally binding undertakings not to enter Ms Schloss's property.

The case will proceed to a full trial unless the parties reach a settlement - with both parties facing an "eye-watering" cost if they lose.

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