Reality TV star loses £500,000 court appeal over deaths of prize falcons

A former reality television contestant has lost his appeal against a court ruling that ordered him to pay around £500,000after noisy building work on his property was found to have caused the deaths of three valuable racing falcons owned by neighbouring breeders.

Barnes Thomas, who appeared on Bear Grylls' survival series The Island in 2018, challenged an earlier High Court decision which found he had acted negligently during construction work at his farm near St Just in Cornwall. His neighbours, brothers Martin and Scott Nicholas, claimed the noise and visual disturbance caused extreme stress to their highly sensitive gyr falcons, leading to the deaths of three birds and significant breeding losses.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Thomas's challenge, meaning the original compensation award remains in place. The case has attracted attention because it considered how landowners should balance their own activities with the interests of neighbouring businesses, particularly where animals are known to be especially sensitive to disturbance.

During the original trial, the court heard that Thomas had been warned to avoid excessive noise and visual disruption during the falcons' breeding season. Judges found that construction work and the positioning of machinery close to the aviaries contributed to the birds suffering fatal stress. One of the falcons was reportedly valued at around £150,000, with the overall financial losses including breeding income and legal costs.

Thomas argued it was unfair that ordinary farming and building activities should be restricted because of his neighbours' specialist falcon breeding business. However, the Court of Appeal upheld the finding that reasonable steps should have been taken to minimise disruption after he had been made aware of the risks.

The ruling is expected to be closely studied by legal experts as it highlights how negligence and nuisance laws can apply when neighbouring landowners' activities affect specialist businesses and valuable livestock.