A Russian Billionaire’s daughter who bought a £32.5m mansion in London before realising it had a “severe moth infestation” can now return it and get most of the money back, a High Court judge has ruled.

Iya Patarkatsishvili, 41, and her husband Dr Yevhen Hunyak, 51, successfully sued William Woodward-Fisher – the vendor of their property in Notting Hill – after the judge agreed he made “fraudulent misrepresentations” when failing to mention the moth issue in the pre-contract enquiries.

The couple, who purchased Horbury Villa in May 2019, previously said they were forced to install 400 traps around the 11,000 square foot mansion after finding the critters on their toothbrushes and in their clothes. They also had to throw their wine down the drain after finding moths floating inside.

Mr Woodward-Fisher, 68, claimed he did not know of any vermin infestation or of any hidden defect in the property – which came with its own pool and spa, gym, wine room, library and cinema. But the building was found to have a “serious” infestation in the insulation – noted twice by pest control companies before it was sold.

The couple previously claimed they would have to “knock down every wall in the property” to get rid of the infestation. In a separate hearing in December last year, Jonathan Seitler KC, defending Mr Woodward-Fisher, said it would be “impossible” for him to accept the house back, and accused the couple of having “substantially degraded” their “super-prime property” since they bought it in 2019 through “neglect”.

He claimed they had “introduced a vermin infestation into the property in the form of mice and rodents,” as well as issues with “flies and fly larvae” linked to Dr Hunyak’s habit of keeping “a very large selection of fruit” in his bedroom. The barrister also claimed “rising damp, penetrating damp, leaks to the roof and terrace, and worn and soiled finishes and carpets, among other issues” had been caused since the sale.

Mr Woodward-Fisher also strongly denied any wrongdoing, telling the court he was advised that the moths do not qualify as vermin. Mr Justice Fancourt has now ruled that the couple should get a repayment for some of the £32.5m they paid when purchasing the property, less an amount to take into account the years they did live there.

They were also awarded “substantial damages”, including the stamp duty land tax, their expenses in seeking to exterminate the moths, and £15,000 for ruined clothes. Ms Patarkatsishvili, a theatre director, is the daughter of late businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, who was Georgia’s richest man, and died of heart failure in 2008, aged 52.

After his death, a family spokesman said half of his £9.69bn fortune would go to Mr Patarkatsishvili’s wife and the remainder to his children and mother. Dr Hunyak is a paediatric dentist and founder of a private children’s dental group in Chelsea, west London.

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