A couple who befriended an elderly bachelor and sought to manipulate him into giving them control over his six-bedroom ski lodge in the Snowy Mountains have been blasted as “rogues” by a judge.
Abby May, 44, and Dean Gibson, 50, launched proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court last year against Neil Walker, 82, seeking to enforce what they claimed was a 30-year lease over his ski lodge in Crackenback, 10 minutes from Thredbo.
But in extraordinary backfire, NSW Supreme Court Justice Kelly Rees last week issued a scathing judgement rejecting the couple’s request for damages for breach of lease and compensation for work done on the property.
“The plaintiffs are not entitled to the relief sought,” she said. “In truth, they are rogues.”
Evidence heard by the court painted what the judgement called a “clear picture” of an unscrupulous couple muscling their way into the home of a frail and lonely old man in an attempt to turn it into a money-making venture for their own benefit.
The court heard police eventually became involved and evicted Ms May and Mr Gibson last August after friends and associates of Mr Walker grew concerned he was the victim of elder abuse, with one warning him “this has RED flags all over it” and stressing “DO NOT sign anything Dean Gibson or his family gives you”.
No criminal charges were laid.
Ms May, a former chef who also goes by Hoda Makki, met Mr Walker by chance in January 2023 while he was catching a bus from Cooma to Jindabyne for a medical appointment.
They struck up a conversation — Mr Walker told the court she appeared to be distressed and lost — and she explained that she was struggling to find a rental with her lease in Cooma running out the next month.
The court noted that Mr Walker “had an eye for the ladies and Ms May was prepared to exploit that susceptibility”. He offered her temporary accommodation at his lodge, dubbed Winter Park, inviting the couple to tour the property.
Mr Walker worked for the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme in his youth and bought the 40 acres of land at Crackenback in the 1970s.
Over the years he constructed a number of buildings, including the six-bedroom house and a granny flat which was his primary residence, as well as sheds and dams.
Mr Walker rented the main house out during snow season, sometimes for weeks at a time, and had several longstanding guests of many years. The court heard that at the time of the events, he had wanted to continue to develop and improve Winter Park, but was limited by lack of funds and his frail condition.
A tentative agreement emerged for the couple to live rent-free at Winter Park for a time, while helping run and improve the accommodation with Mr Gibson’s skills as a carpenter — a prospect which initially seemed to excite Mr Walker.
Emails provided to court reveal how, immediately after their first meeting, Ms May began showering the elderly man with effusive praise and romantic language, often referring to him as “Sir Neil” and telling him she missed him.
“It’s your new friend Abby,” she wrote in her first message that night.
The next day the pair exchanged 15 emails in the space of just over an hour.
“We are so excited I started to pack up last nite … can’t wait to start a whole beginning for all of us!” she wrote, urging him “don’t stress and overthink anything” and to “think of it you got a couple of mates coming to stay with you for a couple of weeks and see how we go”.
“You are so kind,” Mr Walker replied to one email. “Good looking also.”
On February 21, 2023, Ms May wrote to “Sir Neil” telling him “I miss you and our new home”. “I feel on edge here in Sydney and it doesn’t feel like home anymore,” she said.
“I feel safe at your place I feel safe around you and on the farm. I will remain sad until I arrive back to you. Thinking of you xx”
Mr Walker responded, “Thank you very much, I have some of the same personal feelings.”
The next day Ms May said she was patiently waiting to return to Winter Park, “to the magical land where you opened yours doors for me”.
Mr Walker said, “I most humbly enjoy your heartfelt emails, your lovely emails have been waited for, for a long lifetime. There is so much content to discuss.”
Judge Rees said the emails between the pair at the time “comprise a strong campaign by Ms May, which I consider to have been highly manipulative, with a view to stimulating an emotional attachment from Mr Walker”.
“This was having some success,” she said. “Mr Walker said there was some relationship in the first month, ‘Then it went downhill.’”
After their second meeting at Winter Park on February 1, Mr Walker had emailed offering the couple rental of part of the house only until June 30 — as opposed to letting them use it as an Airbnb and run the lodge as they had hoped.
“Ho Hi. Poo,” Ms May replied in apparent disappointment.
Nevertheless the couple moved in on February 3 and set about doing odd jobs on the property, and there were discussions with Mr Walker that they might cook for guests.
Later that month they visited Mr Walker for dinner, during which Mr Gibson told him they needed a lease for their security if they kept “doing all this work”.
Ms May then hand-wrote a draft agreement proposing Mr Walker grant them a 99-year lease, together with an option to buy Winter Park.
Judge Lees said the “preposterous terms” of the draft lease “suggests that the couple were either commercially unsophisticated or over-estimated the strength of their new bond with Mr Walker or his naivety (or a combination of these)”.
Around this time, Mr Gibson’s daughter posted a message on Facebook advertising Winter Park for bookings, stating, “Me and my family have just taken over a ski lodge [in] Crackenback!”
A Facebook page for the lodge, apparently set up by Mr Gibson’s daughter, features several photos of views from the property. “Family owned ski lodge,” the description reads. “Forty acres of love, nature and wildlife. Book via Airbnb.”
A second draft agreement prepared by Ms May proposed giving Mr Gibson authority “to take over full management of Winter Park”, along with a 30-year lease plus an optional 30 years and option to purchase.
This too was never signed by Mr Walker.
By May, relations between the parties was becoming strained, with Mr Walker becoming concerned about their use of the house.
He emailed a friend, one of his long-term lodge guests, outlining his concerns that they might take over the house as squatters.
His friend agreed and said he was concerned they may try to make a claim on his estate as dependants, suggesting they call the police.
Another woman, who worked arranging accommodation for Perisher Blue staff and had inspected Winter Park, was the first to contact police after becoming concerned about the couple’s dealings with Mr Walker.
“I was under the impression it was Dean Gibson’s property but as I met you before Dean arrived you told me it was your property,” she emailed Mr Walker on May 4.
“I do not have a good feeling about this Neil and I think you need to get legal advice to evict Dean and his family from your property immediately. This has RED flags all over it. … DO NOT sign anything Dean Gibson or his family gives you.”
On June 7, Mr Walker was said to have signed the 30-year lease that was the subject of the Supreme Court proceedings.
The same evening he emailed his friend, “It would be most desirable if you called … I have experienced trouble with DEAN and ABBY.”
The couple were sent an eviction notice on July 8 and police evicted them on August 8.
A provisional apprehended domestic violence order was made the following day against Ms May and Mr Gibson, for the protection of Mr Walker.
They filed a lawsuit on August 14 and the matter was heard over four days last month, with the couple representing themselves.
On the question of the supposed lease, Judge Lees ruled that Ms May had written Mr Walker’s name on the document but that he had never signed it.
She further rejected claims for compensation based on alleged representations made by Mr Walker about their arrangement.
“It is difficult to see what detriment or loss was suffered, where the couple enjoyed rent-free accommodation at Winter Park for months, expended few funds themselves but took bookings for some $1900 per night,” she said.
“The Booking.com records indicate that Mr Gibson collected some $20,000. Apart from $1000 given to Mr Walker, the couple kept the money.”
While the court accepted they did some work at the property, it appeared to have “been done ‘on the cheap’”.
Excavation works conducted by Mr Gibson to create a carparking area was of “very poor standard and require significant rectification works to ensure compliance for both structural and safety purposes”, the court heard, at an estimated cost of up to $130,000 just to make the area safe.
The judge ordered Ms May and Mr Gibson to pay Mr Walker’s legal costs.
frank.chung@news.com.au