Former bank manager Dean Richards claimed Truro authorities pursuing a case against him “have it in for me” because “I…look like an incompetent, law-flouting hippy”
A dad is facing two years behind bars for mooring a boat on land he has owned for seven years.
Dean Richards, 43, a former bank manager, is facing legal action after he moored an 86-foot barge on a foreshore he owns in the village of Point, in Truro, Cornwall. The dad believes local authorities have targeted him with unfair legal action, with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) launching proceedings that will force him to appear in court.
He said he has done everything required by law to anchor the boat, a former Royal Navy munitions barge, on which he plans to live with his eight-year-old son. He believes officials from Cornwall Council and the MMO “have it in” for him, because he looks like “an incompetent, law-flouting hippy”.
Speaking to Cornwall Live, Dean said: “I get why they would have it in for me because I do look like an incompetent, law-flouting hippy, but I did 17 years in banking and was a bank manager.” The dad said it feels the council and MMO have a vendetta against him, adding the statutory bodies have made U-turns on legal requirements to moor the barge on his land – which he bought in 2017.
He continued: “The MMO told me twice I did not require a marine licence to anchor my barge on my own land because anchoring is an exempt activity. They did a U-turn, moving the goal posts, and I now face up to two years in prison as they are trying to prosecute me.” Truro Crown Court will hear his case on October 31 and November 1.
Dean said that the MMO initially told him he didn’t need a licence to anchor a boat on his own land, but that the advice changed a year later. He now faces two years behind bars despite saying that, when going through the process on the organisation’s website, he is still informed he is exempt from a licence.
He said: “I asked them for that new regulation and they couldn’t provide me with it. I applied for the licence which is supposed to take 12 weeks and it took 82 weeks to give me a decision and the decision was ‘no you can’t have a licence’ even though all their consultees including Cornwall Council eventually approved the barge coming here.
“The Environment Agency, Natural England, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), Trinity House, Historic England – they all approved it coming here. The AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty) didn’t, in fairness, but the boat had already been here for several years anyway. It was only a case of moving it 200 metres from the yard.
“I appealed the decision and it did not go my way. But since then it turns out that what they told me about a new regulation requiring spudlegs to be licensed was a complete lie. There is no such regulation. I now look like Public Enemy No 1 because as far as everyone is concerned I put it here illegally without a licence.
“I’m looking at two years in prison for this now, because it’s a criminal offence to carry out a marine activity without a licence. However, their website still says I’m exempt when I go on to do a marine licence check.”
The MMO said in a statement that it can’t comment on what is an active legal matter, and a spokesperson for Cornwall Council said a decision on the case will be made once a Planning Inspector has considered “the facts of the case independently of both parties”.
They said: “Planning decisions are made on the merits of each case, as a matter of fact and degree. Decisions may indeed vary if the facts of the development undertaken differ. There is a right of appeal, which in this case has been exercised, and the Planning Inspector will consider the facts of the case independently of both parties before making a decision.”
