IT WAS a David and Goliath battle, except this time Goliath won.

Louise Hamilton faced John Leat in the civil court yesterday. Mrs Hamilton is a pensioner and grandmother who once worked as a publican and now helps at her local charity shop. Mr Leat, 58, is the former chairman of an offshore investment company and once worked for the Royal Family of Dubai.

He has been before the British courts before, in 1998, when his PA claimed that she had been unfairly dismissed for being pregnant. The matter came before a tribunal and was settled out of court.

Yesterday he was successful in his claim. Mrs Hamilton was ordered to pay more than £1,000 for “wanton damages” to his Mercedes-Benz.

The dispute began on August 11, 2004, when Mrs Hamilton was returning to her home, a flat above a dental surgery in Richmond, southwest London. She found her front door blocked by a silver Mercedes belonging to Mr Leat, at that time chairman of Corvus Capital. Her reaction, to write a note for the driver, would land her in Kingston County Court 32 months later.

She told District Judge Sandip Sethi that she had managed to squeeze past the £70,000 car. She had written a note asking the driver not to park against her front door.

“When I came back I saw the car was also on my garden, which I had planted with flowers, and it had crushed them all to the ground,” she said. She had “squiggled” the pen to make it work and added “or on the garden” to her note. Her pen strokes pushed through the paper and left scratches on the Mercedes.

“It was cold. He had parked in front of my front door,” she said. “Why? I don’t know the man.” Mrs Hamilton sat in a black jacket buttoned up to the neck, diagonally opposite Mr Leat, who wore a suit and shirt open at the neck. David Lyons, an in-house lawyer at Corvus Capital, told the court that Mr Leat had permission to park where he had from the dentist.

“Not right up against my front door,” Mrs Hamilton said.

Mr Lyons said that the matter of Mr Leat’s car crushing her flowers had not been raised before. “Well I’m afraid he did,” she said. “It’s been going on for so long now that I keep forgetting things.” She became flustered. Her granddaughter went to sit beside her and held her hand.

The judge asked if she had been “cross”. “I was cold and cross and tired,” she said.

The court was told that Mr Leat had had an estimate of £882.34 for the repair job, but had had the work done for £1,314.59 at another garage. He was claiming the higher amount.

The judge said that he could see “no good reason” why Mr Leat had had the car repaired at the more expensive garage. He awarded Mr Leat the lower amount, which with costs and interest, came to £1,141.21.

Mrs Hamilton, whose sole income is her £99-a-week pension, was asked if she had any stock market interests. “Where would I find the money to buy stocks and shares?” she said. She has 28 days to pay.

Outside the court she told The Times: “It’s been terrible. I have never faced anything like it. I don’t have a history of damage to cars.”

Mr Leat said the case had been “a waste of time” but he did not regret bringing it. “It was a point of principle,” he said. He said that he lived in Geneva. His correspondence with Mrs Hamilton was sent from an address in Ascot, a handsome pile overlooking Sunningdale golf course, where he and his wife once entertained VIPs on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al- Maktoum of Dubai.

At the time he was chief executive of Smech Management, the company that looked after the sheikh’s racing and social affairs in Britain. He now runs his own business, John Leat Consultancy, operating as a bloodstock consultant. The business is registered at the house in Ascot. Louise Hamilton works as a volunteer at Mind, a charity shop in Richmond.

Before she retired she was a publican. Her husband had been a bus driver but had saved to buy the Summers Arms in Battersea. He died 30 years ago and the tavern has since been converted into flats.

In retirement she has lived alone but has maintained an active role in her local community. She has two children and five grandchildren, all living in southern England.

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