A wealthy couple who thought they had bought their ideal homehas sued for £36million after claiming the house was "infested" by wine-ruining, clothes-devouring moths.

Iya Patarkatsishvili and her husband Dr Yevhen Hunyak purchased Horbury Villa in the ultra-desirable Notting Hill area of Londonin May 2019 for an eye-watering £32.5 million. It came with a pool and spa, gym, wine room, library and cinema, but now the Georgian multi-billionaire's daughter and her dentist husband have launched a multi-million-pound claim against seller William Woodward-Fisher

The parents of two claim they noticed the "infestation" within just days of moving in, with Ms Patarkatsishvili telling Dr Hunyak “there’s a moth flying around here”. London's High Courtheard from Dr Hunyak how the moths land on the family's food and toothbrushes, and force them to throw wine down the drain after finding them floating inside.

The couple (pictured) has alleged that seller Mr Woodward-Fisher could be guilty of 'fraudulent misrepresentation' (

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They purportedly at one point had to swat some 100 insects a day and even now, with expert treatment, they still have to snuff around 35, their barrister John McGhee KC said. They claim that the critters' ground zero is the insulation in the posh pad's walls and ceilings.

They are suing Mr Woodward-Fisher, 68, a high-end property developer and former champion rower, claiming he was either guilty of “fraudulent misrepresentation” or negligent in failing to disclose previous moth issues when answering pre-sale enquiries about the possibility of “vermin” in the house. The payout claimed would include Mr Woodward-Fisher buying back Horbury Villa and compensating them for all expenses and inconvenience caused by the moth menace, a total of more than £36m.

But Mr Woodward-Fisher denies all claims, insisting that he gave honest and full replies on the pre-sale enquiries form, and that as far as he knew any previous moth problems had been eliminated by the time of the move. He also says the wealthy couple's valuation of how much it would cost to remedy the problem is massively overblown. His KC, Jonathan Seitler, said he had been honest when dealing with the enquiry about possible previous “vermin infestation,” having told his solicitor they had experienced problems with moths, only to be assured that “moths were not vermin and therefore not relevant to this enquiry”.

Dr Hunyak is a pediatric dentist who practices in Chelsea, while his wife is the daughter of Badri Patarkatsishvili, a Georgian businessman who fell out with Vladimir Putin and set up home in the UK in 2000 before dying of heart failure in 2008. Prior to purchase, they or their staff visited the mansion - which has seven bathrooms, a swimming pool, spa, cinema and gym in a newly formed double basement - on at least 11 separate occasions, the court was told. But despite their careful inspection, the couple say they were dismayed when they were hit with what one insect specialist called “an infestation of extreme proportions…amounting to millions of moths” in their deluxe house.

“This was far more extreme than an ordinary domestic experience of moths," said their barrister Mr McGhee. "Moths were flying around at night whenever someone was using a screen, clothes had to be packed in hermetic bags, carpets and furniture were damaged, numerous items of clothes were eaten, moths got in wine and food, and on cutlery and toothbrushes."

The late Badri Patarkatsishvili (L) with his daughter Iya Patarkatsishvili (

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Dr Hunyak and his wife say the insects decimated their clothes, causing £50,000 worth of damage, and claim it would cost almost £10m to get rid of the moths by replacing all the woollen insulation in the building. Sketching out his case, Mr McGhee told Mr Justice Fancourt: “The presence and cause of the infestation was well known to Mr Woodward-Fisher. He is an experienced property developer and had extensively redeveloped the property in 2012-13 before living in it as his family home.

“During those works he and his wife had installed woollen insulation in the walls, that insulation was a food source for moth larvae and became infested with them, and by 2018 they were suffering serious problems with moths, which required frequent treatments.”

“The fact that he was willing to tolerate this level of disruption further puts the lie to Mr Woodward-Fisher’s claims that the level of moth activity had not troubled him,” added Mr McGhee. By May 2018, the Woodward-Fishers had decided to sell up, the court heard, and Mr McGhee suggested their move - coming after “four highly disruptive sprays of the property” - was prompted by “the apparent intractability of the moth infestation and the impact dealing with it was having on their use of the property as a home”.

In their claim, Dr Hunyak and his wife are asking the judge to reverse the house sale on the basis of alleged “fraudulent misrepresentation” so that they get their £32.5m purchase money back, plus compensation for other losses, including £50,000 for moth-shredded clothes and over £3.7m they paid in stamp duty. However, Mr Woodward-Fisher says that estimate is “fantastically high,” arguing that the true repair bill would be £162,652.

Mr Woodward-Fisher said that, 'had he lived alone, he would never have been sufficiently bothered about moths to have sought external help to begin with' (

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He also claimed the only hard evidence of the claimed £50,000 damage to clothing relates to five items, including a pair of tracksuit trousers, a holey shirt and a suit with a moth-eaten arm. In the witness box, Dr Hunyak was quizzed by the defence barrister about the scale of the moth scourge.

“You said that by September 2019 you routinely had moths and found them on toothbrushes, plates, forks and on food - but do you have any photos of these moths?”

“They’re quite agile,” replied the millionaire dentist. “When I see them, I just try and catch them, so I can’t take photos.”

Mr Seitler said: “At the time of the replies seven months later, there was no visible moth problem,” adding that Mr Woodward-Fisher has insisted that, “had he lived alone, he would never have been sufficiently bothered about moths to have sought external help to begin with”.

The trial continues, but the judge is expected to reserve his decision until a later date.