Gurkha veteran fights eviction order from his hospital bed

A Gurkha veteran facing eviction from his home of nearly half a century by tax haven-based foreign investors today vowed: “I will not abandon my post.”

Major James Vickers, 89, who says he will only leave his Kensington home “in a box”, is set for a court showdown with owners DMG Global Consulting.

The British Virgin Islands-based firm is seeking a possession order to force him to leave his flat in Lexham Gardens but he claims he is a protected tenant.

Volunteers helping him fight the case claim DMG is allowing the property to remain “uninhabitable” in the hope the court will deem it unsuitable to live in.

DMG, however, claims it cannot carry out urgent work unless the veteran temporarily moves out. It claims he has refused, forcing it to seek the order.

The firm bought the building — once home to 13 people but now only the major and his two flatmates — for £4.1 million in May 2014. It served him with a Notice To Quit that July. Its application for the order will be heard at Hammersmith county court in February.

Speaking from his hospital bed after his health deteriorated, Major Vickers said: “They said, ‘Move or we will prosecute you’. I will never abandon my post or my co-tenants.”

The volunteers claim repairs could be carried out without the veteran leaving, and fear that if he moves out for a long period of time his absence would provide grounds for permanent eviction. The property has planning permission, granted to the old owners, to be converted into a luxury block. One volunteer said: “They’ve let the whole building go into disrepair and are not renting any of the other space out in it. It seems to us they just want him out permanently so they can convert it and make a lot of money.”

Major Vickers served in India and Malaya, where he fought in the Emergency, and retired in 1963. He gave his medals to the Gurkha museum in Winchester. A friend said: “His health has declined enormously because of the stress of it. This is about defending his men. He’ll be in court. He said he will not leave there unless it is in a box.”

Protected tenants often stay in properties they rent until death because it is harder for landlords to evict them.

DMG director Luca Pepere said the old owner had left the building “dilapidated”, adding: “We have, of course, offered to temporarily rehouse Major Vickers while work is carried out.”

He continued: “We have been made aware of misinformation about the situation. Until just over a week ago, Major Vickers was being looked after in a nursing home. He had been there since June because of health and mobility problems. Last week, Major Vickers discharged himself against the advice of social services.