Graham Wildin, 70, defied a series of court orders for more than a decade to demolish the holiday complex at the back of his home – even serving time in prison for it.
Britain’s ‘biggest man cave’ is finally being demolished after a long battle over an ‘eyewell’ built more than a decade ago.
Millionaire Graham Wildin, 70, has repeatedly defied court orders to knock down his illegal 10,000 sq ft holiday complex – and has even served time in prison for it. The dispute has been going on since 2014, when he built a man cave with a bowling alley, casino and cinema at the back of his house – without planning permission.
Wildin, from Cinderford, Gloucestershire, was even arrested for failing to comply with a court order to decommission the building and lost a number of other court cases. Forest of Dean District Council confirmed earlier this year that it would be demolished. And last week, work started to stretch it out.
His first of five court defeats came in September 2018, when a High Court injunction was granted, initially giving him until the end of April 2020 to remove the building. He failed to comply with the order and was given a suspended sentence in June 2021.
He then lost an appeal against the sentence at the Court of Appeal in November and was ordered to demolish the site by March 10, 2022. But as Wildin’s defiance continued, a six-week suspended sentence for contempt of court was activated on August 13, 2022. .
Once released from HMP Cardiff, he was given 18 weeks to “soften up” the inside of the building to make it unusable. That term expired in January 2023 and last year was his FIFTH court defeat as his conviction was upheld and he was ordered to pay £9,962 in costs to the county council – despite claiming he had now sold everything for just £1.
In September 2023, it was announced that he had been granted an interim injunction to prevent him from bothering neighbors with parking and CCTV. Wildin’s neighbors claimed he was taking his frustrations out on the council by clogging up street parking spaces with his fleet of classic cars. He appealed and was told in December that he had been granted a final injunction – allowing him to park only two cars on the road and accommodate two visitors who could stay for a maximum of eight hours.
The judge also ordered that Mr Wildin could not have CCTV surveillance cameras on the outside of any vehicle or on any extension pole. But in March this year it was announced that a six-bed house near the ‘man cave’ – believed to be owned by his family – was to become a holiday let.
Temporary approval has been given for it to be used as such – despite concerns from locals about noise, cars and ‘noisy jays’. A Forest of Dean District Council spokesman said: “As a council it is our duty to ensure that planning and development proposals comply with the law and benefit the local area while protecting the community.
“Hundreds of people every year follow the correct application and development planning process, unfortunately this was not the case at this location. It is important to note that the cost of this process should not be borne by the taxpayer and we will look to recover the full cost from the landowner in due course demolition.
“We will be working closely with our demolition contractor to minimize any disruption to residents. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people living in close proximity to this property for their patience during this lengthy legal process.”