A sex therapist who got into legal battles with aristocratic owners has lost her latest case – after taking over their historic home with more than 50 animals.
Mrs. Patricia Ramshaw, 54, has been denied a refund of her rent and a judge has dismissed her claim of molestation of the aristocratic Kator family, over her rent on her family’s 300-year-old home.
The dispute has been dubbed the UK’s most luxurious eviction row with ongoing fallout involving rotting walls and scores of animals – and allegations of being spied on from a church tower.
Mrs. Ramshaw first moved into the old house in Ranworth, Norfolk, in the winter of 2021 to find no central heating, causing it to ‘freeze’ despite being fitted with oil radiators.
The wealthy land-owning family then took to court to recover £28,538 in rent after claiming the house was unfit to live in without a mandatory energy efficiency rating.
Sex therapist and entertainer Lady Patricia Ramshaw, 54, has been thwarted in trying to recover rent
Someone is at the door: a huge white horse was among Mrs. Ramshaw’s animals
Jane Cator (pictured) was called to testify at an earlier hearing, and alleged that Ms Ramshaw had breached her lease agreement by bringing animals in “huge proportions” to the land
The property is believed to be worth around £1.5m, based on homes of similar size in the area.
Landlord Sam Cator alleged that Mrs. Ramshaw breached the terms of her lease by moving in with more than 50 animals, including three Danes, two horses, 12 sheep, two pigs, a goat, ducks and chickens.
The animals allegedly destroyed the historic Kator family orchard on the property’s seven-acre grounds, after Ms. Ramshaw allowed them to graze under the trees during a heat wave in the summer of 2022.
In the latest twist to that row, Court Judge Stephen Evans, dubbed Lady Ramshaw, who still lives on the property, has refused to recover her rent.
Dame Patricia Ramshaw has claimed she was forced to live in freezing conditions at her Grade II listed rented home in Ranworth, Norfolk
Mrs. Ramshaw fosters four dogs including three Great Danes on her lovely property in Norfolk
He also criticized the parties for allowing the dispute to end in court – suggesting that the matter be dealt with through civil means.
He wrote, ‘This whole issue centers on the civil rights of the parties, and is fit for a very different forum.
“These procedures provide a useful lesson for prospective landlords and tenants who proceed to enter into a lease without specifying the scope of the lapse, and without agreeing to all relevant lease terms, prior to taking over the occupation.”
Mrs. Ramshaw, who works as a sex therapist, was bought the nickname by her ex-boyfriend as part of a skit where she was known as “Lady Ba”.
The Caters refunded her a £13,000 heating bill incurred during her first Christmas at the property, along with £4,500 of rent.
Mrs. Ramshaw has horses, goats, sheep, pigs, ducks and four Great Danes named Geiger, Nova, Lola and Yogi live with her in the house
Lady Ramshaw is fighting an attempt by her landlord to evict her from her rented Grade II listed home over accusations that her 50 animals are causing damage to property.
The parties had been negotiating an early termination of the lease, and Ms. Ramshaw said she was about to move out that summer in 2022, having collected her animals from different stables on the grounds for relocation the same week in June.
However, the Cators then returned to the agreement to terminate the lease early with a refund of the rent after contacting a former partner of Ramshaw’s, whom she described as abusive.
While Justice Evans denied Ramshaw’s right to a refund of the rent, he did admit that the Kator family had changed a deal with Ms. Ramshaw after speaking with her ex-partner.
He wrote: “It is unfortunate for the applicant (Ms. Ramshaw) that the contact had the effect of causing the defendant (Sam Cator) to change the terms of his offer of surrender.”
Speaking after the hearing, Ms Ramshaw said she did not view the ruling as a defeat because it had allowed the case to enter the public domain.
Mrs. Ramshaw keeps four dogs, including three Great Danes, two horses, pigs, goats, several ducks and chickens, and a flock of sheep.
Mrs. Ramshaw fosters 20 animals including four dogs on the sprawling Norfolk estate
She said: ‘The rent payment session was very successful for me as I was able to see the shameful truth of what had happened.
“I am very grateful to the judge for revealing such terrible things.”
Speaking earlier, she outlined the problems she has encountered since she moved.
She added, “At Christmas I had pneumonia for weeks because of the cold here.
I didn’t know there was no central heating when I moved in.
I’ve been to the house previously, it was lovely and described it as “warm and cozy”.
The week I moved here, I froze. My head was pounding with cold.
The week I moved in I was trying to arrange with the landlord where the animals would go.
We had a meeting about heating and then from December they started trying to evict me. I paid a year’s rent in advance.
The judge’s report included allegations made during the hearing that Jane Cator, the mother of owner Sam Cator, had spied on Lady Ramshaw from a nearby church steeple and removed her animals.
However, the judge ruled that Mrs. Cator’s explanations for ascending the tower—that it was not to spy on Mrs. Ramshaw and that she was tending the church—were “entirely plausible”.
The report reads: “We believe Ms. Cator when she said she looked at the property – but not the applicant specifically – on all occasions she climbed the tower.”
The judge also rejected allegations that the Kator family staff took photographs of Ms. Ramshaw.
“We are not satisfied that the defendant or his agents personally photographed the applicant, as opposed to her animals or the harm caused,” the judge wrote.
As of April 2023, Mrs. Ramshaw is still living at the property, and says she cannot afford to leave without getting back the rent.
A possession order has been issued against her through the county courts, but she is seeking to set it aside.
Caters declined to comment.
