Woman ordered to pay man who abused her £35,000 and let him live in her home

A woman has been ordered by the courts to pay her abuser £35,000 in damages and to let him live in her home because of a family will.

Kirsty Easthope, 52, from York suffered abuse at the hands of her mother’s partner, Arthur Hepple, for decades. Now she must pay Hepple £35k in damages after losing a costly legal battle against the serial sex offender after he was released from prison.

The 84-year-old Hepple was given a suspended prison sentence in 2014 and put on the sex offenders’ register for abusing Kirsty. He was then jailed for another sex attack on a woman and her teenage daughter in 2017.

Family Handout

Kirsty’s mum, Irma Barnett, had written the will before Hepple started abusing her daughter and before she was diagnosed with dementia. In it, she wanted Hepple to live in the family home in North Yorkshire, and spend the rest of his life there.

Hepple started to attack Mrs Easthope in 2003, Mrs Barnett died in 2013. Mrs Easthope  inherited the property from her mother but no longer lives there. She said she had been left ‘absolutely devastated’ by the ruling.

Mrs Easthope told ITV News: “I thought I’d be free of [Hepple] when he went to prison but he’s back and a judge has ruled that and it’s atrocious.

“I’ll never understand how he could have done what he did in the first place, but to continue to persecute me… I just want to be free of my perpetrator, but now the judge has put him back in my life again.”

After leaving prison in 2018 he insisted on being allowed to live in the bungalow he had shared with Mrs Barnett and her daughter. The court found in his favour, and ordered Mrs Easthope to pay Hepple £35,000 to cover the losses he had incurred while having to live elsewhere along with legal costs, which could bring her total bill to £100,000.

Mrs Easthope said: “The court thing was just harrowing. I can’t put into words how awful it was, I was completely out of my depth. It just broke me.”

In a statement, Hepple’s lawyers said Mrs Easthope could face further legal action if she refuses to comply with the order, saying: “Mr Hepple has an unconditional lifetime right to occupy the property under the terms of his late partner’s will.

“Mrs Easthope unlawfully excluded him and refused to allow him back into occupation. Her actions left Mr Hepple with no alternative but to issue a civil claim against her requiring her, amongst other things, to allow him back into the property. 

“To date, she is still to allow Mr Hepple back into the property and to pay the damages. It is possible that the matter may have to go back to Leeds High Court for enforcement and a decision on costs, which will be substantial.”

In a written ruling, the judge at Leeds County Court said that Mrs Easthope was ‘bound’ by the will left by her mother, Irma Barnett. The order stipulated that Mrs Easthope must cover the ‘claimant’s losses’ of £35,248.75 and pay him £22.20 a day until he is allowed back into the property.

Mrs Easthope’s friend, Christina Hall, has started a Go Fund Me page to help her with legal costs. At the time of writing it has raised nearly £7,000.