Graham Wildin, 70, has defied a series of court orders to demolish a leisure complex behind his home for more than a decade – even serving a prison sentence for it
The UK’s «biggest man cave» is finally coming down after a long-running battle over the «eye cave» built more than a decade ago.
Millionaire Graham Wildin, 70, has repeatedly defied court orders to demolish his illegal 10,000 sq ft recreational complex – and has even served time in prison for it. The dispute has been going on since 2014, when he built a man cave with a bowling alley, casino and cinema behind his house – without a building permit.
Wildin, of Cinderford, Gloucestershire, was even jailed for failing to comply with a court order to decommission the building and lost a number of other court cases. Forest of Dean Borough Council confirmed earlier this year that it would be demolished. And last week, work on its dismantling began.
His first of five court defeats came in September 2018 when the High Court granted an injunction that initially gave him until the end of April 2020 to remove the building. He failed to comply with the ban and was sentenced to probation in June 2021.
He then lost an appeal against the sentence at the Court of Appeal that November and was ordered to demolish the complex by March 10, 2022. But when Wildin’s defiance continued, a six-week contempt of court sentence was activated on August 13, 2022.
After being discharged from HMP Cardiff, he was given 18 weeks to «soften» the interior of the building to render it unusable. That term expired in January 2023 and last year was his FIFTH court defeat as his sentence was upheld and he was ordered to pay £9,962 in costs to the county council – despite claiming he has now sold everything for just £1.
In September 2023, it was announced that he had been granted a temporary restraining order to stop disturbing neighbors with parking and video surveillance. Wildin’s neighbors claim that he takes out his frustration with the municipality on them by clogging up street parking spaces with his fleet of classic cars. He appealed and was told in December that he had been issued with a final ban – allowing him to park just two cars on the road plus the option for two visitors, who could stay for a maximum of eight hours.
The judge also ordered that Mr Wildin must not keep CCTV surveillance cameras on the outside of any vehicle or on any extension pole. But in March this year it was announced that the six-bed house near the ‘man cave’ – believed to be owned by his family, was to become a holiday let.
It has been provisionally approved to be used as such – despite concerns from locals about noise, cars and «noisy revelers». A Forest of Dean District Council spokesman said: «As a council it is our duty to ensure that planning and development proposals comply with the law and benefit the local area while protecting the community.
«Hundreds of people every year follow the correct planning application and development process, unfortunately this was not the case at this location. It is important to note that the cost of this process should not be borne by taxpayers, and we will look to recover the full cost of the demolition from the landowner in due course.» .
«We will be working closely with our demolition contractor to limit any disruption to tenants. ‘We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people who live in the immediate vicinity of this property for their patience during this lengthy legal process.’