THIS is the shocking moment a man threatened to kill his neighbour’s cat during a bitter row over a tiny washing machine cupboard.
A clip filmed by Lyudmil Zyapkov shows financier Anthony Knight calling him a “nasty little man” before making the chilling threat.
This is the moment Anthony Knight threatened to kill his neighbour’s catMail Online
Court exhibit supplied by Champion News Service LtdThe neighbours had fallen out over this tiny cupboard[/caption]
Champion News Service LtdLyudmil Zyapkov and his wife Juliana leaving court[/caption]
INSTAGRAMLyudmil Zyapkov with his cat Bandit who Knight threatened to kill[/caption]
The two men fell out over a storage area wedged between their homes in the ultra-posh London neighbourhood of Knightsbridge.
Knight, 72, had owned the cupboard since he and his wife Angela moved into their mews home in 1995.
The couple used the cupboard, accessible through an outside door, to store their children’s sports equipment.
But the storage space had been left unused since 2010, when the Knights’ kids left home.
Eight years later, Anthony Knight discovered that the cupboard had been secretly bricked up from the inside.
He realised it had been turned into a storage space for the neighbouring basement flat – which belonged to Zyapkov, also a banker.
Knight started placing his bins outside Zyapkov’s patio door – before threatening to kill his cat Bandit.
In a clip obtained by the Mail, Knight can be heard saying: “Don’t let the cat out here.
“If I see it, I will kill it.”
Knight told the Mail: “All of this has been very distressing for us.
“With properties in this street going for up to £3million, that cupboard space is worth £75,000.”
The Knights, who live abroad for much of the year, did not realise that Zyapkov had taken over the cupboard – until his wife Juliana showed them round.
Zyapkov had bought the flat in the basement of a mansion which was the final home of Ava Gardner in November 2018.
He and Juliana sued Knight in a bid to have the cupboard declared their property by way of adverse possession, or “squatters’ rights“.
They also claimed damages for harassment and nuisance over Mr Knight’s conduct.
But the Knights have countersued for a declaration that the cupboard is part of their mansion.
Judge Jan Luba KC ruled in favour of the Knights at the Central London County Court, ordering Zyapkov to return the cupboard and pay their legal costs.
Vowing to appeal the decision, Juliana said: “We refuse to be screamed at, shouted at, harassed and threatened.
“You can’t reason with people like him. We offered Mr Knight £65,000 for it. But he refused.
“We are considering selling the flat because how can we live next door to a man like that?”
Juliana also disputed that her husband had been ordered to pay the Knights’ costs – claiming “he’s never going to pay them”.
Champion News Service LtdKnight and Zyapkov are neighbours in a Knightsbridge mews street[/caption]
Anthony Knight leaving Central London County CourtChampion News Service Ltd Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
