A BBC antiques dealer has described his life as being ‘utter hell for two years’ after he was arrested for stalking in a nightmare neighbour row.
But now, as the case against him has been dropped, Adrian Higham, 58, has spoken out about the ordeal which saw him get arrested, spend seven hours in a police cell and be handed an interim restraining order.
Mr Higham was a regular on The Bidding Room, presented by Nigel Havers, where expert dealers battle it out for items brought in by the public.
However, he was dropped from the BBC show and suffered a nervous breakdown as a result.
Taking to social media with the case behind him, he wrote: ‘After two years of hell with our ex Neighbours. It’s my turn to put the record straight.
‘Never in my life have I had people hate you so much.’
He added: ‘Now it’s time for the truth.’
Speaking to the Argus, Mr Highman, from Rotherfield, East Sussex, described what began as a ‘normal neighbourly dispute’ turned into ‘torment’.
‘The police never listened to our side. They treated me like a villain,’ he said.
He added that he believes the neighbour dispute was the reason he was dropped by the BBC. The broadcaster reportedly denies this.
‘It’s so upsetting because I’ve got a really good reputation on The Bidding Room and in general,’ he said.
‘If someone has been stalked it’s really serious.’
Earlier this year, he announced he was ‘stepping away from social media’ after being handed the restraining order against his former neighbour.
He also said he was stepping away from television work despite it being a ‘dream of [his] to work on TV’.
‘I have had a blast and met some amazing people and those close to me know where I am and can send me private messages,’ he wrote.
‘But I will never post anything. My life now becomes private!!! This is a choice I have made and nothing will change.’
Mr Higham was interviewed under caution in April last year after police said they received ‘reports of harassment and criminal damage’ against his neighbour, a woman in her 30s.
He was then arrested this June ‘on suspicion of harassment following reports of verbal abuse towards the same woman’.
Describing the experience as ‘horrendous’, he claims he was shut in a police cell for ‘seven hours’.
However, there was insufficient evidence for police to press criminal charges, and instead, Higham was handed a Stalking Protection Order (SPO) by Brighton’s Magistrates Court on July 23.
It banned him from ‘communications, approaches, references or surveillance’ involving his former neighbours.
The court notice said the order, under the Stalking Protection Act 2019, had been applied for ‘on the basis that you have carried out acts associated with stalking namely derogatory social media posts, aggressive behaviour, filming neighbour[s], that you pose a risk associated with stalking to another person and there is reasonable cause to believe the proposed order is necessary to protect another from such a risk.’
But following a review, the SPO was withdrawn on October 7.
Mr Higham and his partner, Tara, said this came as a ‘huge relief’, saying their life had been turned into ‘utter hell’ for two and a half years.
The former BBC star said the ordeal left him depressed, with his wife saying it had left a ‘deep wound’.
‘It should never have got anywhere – what a waste of police and court time,’ Tara added.
The couple revealed they would often travel to their home in France with the ‘traumatic’ experience leaving them both on anti-depressants.
A Sussex Police spokesperson said: ‘Sussex Police understands the distress and disruption that anti-social behaviour can cause within communities, and we will always investigate reports thoroughly, seeking a satisfactory resolution in collaboration with community partners.’
They added: ‘Our commitment to tackling anti-social behaviour continues, with every report taken seriously and addressed in partnership with local agencies.’
The Bidding Room has so far run for six seasons, and so far Higham has only missed one series due to health issues.
Suffering a serious back injury, he spent nine months in hospital during which time he spoke about the kindness of Moses Otunla – a fellow dealer on the Bidding Room.
