Possible two years prison sentence for mooring

BOATER Dean Richards faces two years in prison for mooring his 50ft barge on a Cornwall creek.

Even though it is his own land, Janet Friend reports.

Prosecute him

Exasperated Dean Richards is due in court after the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) decided to prosecute him on a matter which he claims is legally wrong.

He is also facing enforcement from Cornwall Council and legal action by a second home owner who also has a property in the waterside village of Point, near Truro.

He feels like there's a vendetta against him as he's done everything required by law to anchor his barge, which he wants to live on with the eight year old son and tells:

"The MMO told me twice I did not require a marine licence to anchor my barge on my own land because anchoring is an exempt activity. They did a U-turn, moving the goal posts, and I now face up to two years in prison as they are trying to prosecute me."  This is due to be heard at Truro Crown Court on October 31st and November 1st."

Fighting Cornwall Council

He is also fighting Cornwall Council—and won, twice—telling that Cornwall Council got wind of my plans to moor my barge and decided to spend two years and an expensive court case claiming part of my land as well as three miles of seabed from the head of Restronguet Creek to Devoran, explaining:

"They spent so much of taxpayers' money. They had a really good barrister, a land registry expert, they hired all these people to write these big reports about why their document superseded mine. Luckily I could blow them out the water as I had everything which pre-dated their documents. I won that case, but all that time I was paying to keep the barge 200 metres away at Penpol boatyard."