No dishonesty in sale of murder house, judges rule
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A couple who were forced to sell their house at a loss after learning it might contain body parts of a girl murdered by her father have lost their fight for compensation.
Alan and Susan Sykes failed to win damages from the previous owners for not telling them about the history of the house in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The judges in the Court of Appeal told them they could not overcome the legal principle of "buyer beware".
The couple bought the house in 2000 for £87,000 from James and Alison Taylor-Rose, who were put it up for sale after learning that Samson Perera had murdered his adopted daughter Nilanthie and hidden hundreds of pieces of her body around the property 16 years earlier. The Taylor-Roses answered "no" when asked if there was any other information the buyers had a right to know, and the judges yesterday ruled that was not dishonest. The murder was subsequently the subject of a television documentary.