Dame Vivienne Westwood’s multi-millionaire son wins court battle against young mother on Universal Credit who failed to pay rent – as she’s ordered to pay nearly £5,000

Dame Vivienne Westwood’s multimillionaire son has won a lawsuit against a young mother who was unable to pay rent through Universal Credit.

Rebecca Shortt says she will be under ‘huge financial stress’ and there is ‘zero prospect’ of paying Joseph Corré nearly £5,000 after being ordered to cough up the money.

The young mother had not paid rent for six months from April to September on the cattle ranch he owns, between Bude and Morwenstow, in North Cornwall.

The 31-year-old, who has since moved to central Cornwall, was taken to Bodmin County Court by the son of fashion designer Dame Vivienne and Sex Pistols manager Malcom McLaren, who insisted it wasn’t about the money.

She told Deputy District Judge Inglis she refused to pay because a water leak meant there wasn’t enough water in the fields she used for her dairy cows and that the farm was “unsustainable.”

But Mr Corré said this was not true, because streams ran alongside fields, all but one or two on the estate, there was a water source and access to a borehole, and Mrs Shortt also had access to a water tank.

Ms Shortt was ordered to pay £2,324 in unpaid rent and a further £2,000 in unpaid farm repair costs, as well as Mr Corré’s legal costs of £551 following the hearing on Thursday.

‘I have no money. I can’t afford it because I have a Universal Credit. I have absolutely no prospect of paying it,” she said.

The starting farmer said that this ‘would put me at great financial risk’.

“It’s going to put a huge financial strain on me,” she said. ‘I have nothing to sell. He (Mr Corré) claims to be a humanitarian and environmentalist and campaigned for the release of Julian Assange. He is active in human rights campaigns, yet he decided to take a young mother trying to raise wild animals to court for less than £5,000.”

She added: ‘I’m just happy that my baby is safe and that I can continue my work to improve cow welfare and advocate sustainable farming. Fortunately, a clear conscience still costs nothing in Britain today.’

The mother argued that the gates and fences were ‘rotten in the first place’ and that repairing them would improve Mr Corré’s property rather than just repair it.

Ms Shortt, originally from Penge, South London, signed a lease with Mr Corré in 2019 with the idea of ​​working the land sustainably.

A second lease was signed in 2021 as her private circumstances changed.

Ms Shortt discovered there was a problem when a huge water bill landed on her doorstep, she reported CornwallLive. She told the court that the water leak was on farm land used by Mr Corré for his own personal use.

She expected Mr. Corré to solve the problem after he told her to turn off the taps until the leak could be found.

She said: ‘The fields kept being traded because of some baffling idea he (Mr. Corré) had.

“I would not have agreed to pay this amount of rent if I had known there was a water problem. I left because of that and because of his aggressive bullying and constant harassment.

“He cursed at me because the noise my cows made disturbed his peace. He threatened about all sorts of things.’

But Mr Corré denied making any threats and said he was frustrated when Ms Shortt’s animals escaped, including cows running onto the nearby A39 and a flock of chickens defecating in front of a holiday retreat he owns.

He said, “She had no control over her animals. She had no farming experience and was struggling.

“She tried different forms of farming, but it didn’t work. It is not true to be accused of bullying and aggressive behavior. I never threatened her with eviction. I told her things weren’t going well between us. But she behaved dishonestly.’

He told the court he has since had a new tenant and there has been “no problem with water,” denying the situation was ever desperate.

Judge Inglis ruled in favor of Mr Corré, saying access to water was not a requirement of the lease.

It was also stated that leaks would have to be paid for by the tenant, as well as repairs to borders and gates.

“It is not for this court to judge its fairness, but only its legality,” Judge Inglis said. “Even if it seems one-sided.”

The activist and businessman bought the land in North Cornwall 15 years ago because ‘Cornwall is his favorite place’.

He insisted that it was not about the money to bring the young mother to justice.

“It’s a matter of principle, that’s all,” he said. ‘It’s not about the money for me. I gave someone a chance to do something and that person acted in a dishonorable way. It’s about integrity.’

Mr. Corré co-founded the sexy lingerie company Agent Provocateur in 1994 with his then-wife Serena Rees. The pair split in 2007 when Ms Rees left him for ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon.

That same year, after their divorce, they sold an 80 per cent share of the company to private equity 3i for £60 million.

In 2017, Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley bought the luxury lingerie brand for £25 million, which Mr Corré called ‘an embarrassment to British business’ and ‘ridiculous’.

In 2007, Mr Corré rejected an MBE awarded for services to the fashion industry on the Queen’s Birthday Honors list after claiming then Prime Minister Tony Blair was ‘morally corrupt’.

“I was elected by an organization headed by a Prime Minister, whom I consider morally corrupt, who has been involved in organized lies, to the point where thousands of people, including children, have suffered death, detention and torture in Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘

In 2016, he burned his entire £5 million punk memorabilia, which included his father’s personal items and vintage clothing designed by his mother.

When asked why he did it, Mr Corré added that ‘Punk is Dead’ before saying the genre has ‘lost all its zest’.

Speaking at Bloomsbury House in London, he said, “Punk has been castrated and castrated by business and the state. Hung, drawn, and quartered.”

Dame Vivienne passed away peacefully in December 2022 at the age of 81, surrounded by her family in Clapham, South London.