MANOR WAR
LONDON barrister Samantha Kane bought Carbisdale Castle
(pictured)
in the Scottish Highlands in 2022, paying £1m for the 19-bedroom, 29-acre property in Sutherland. Styling herself Lady Carbisdale, she later told the press she had spent millions more refurbishing it.
Since then she has put the castle on the market twice, fallen out with her local community council, accused locals of bigotry and transphobia (Kane is a transgender woman) and been involved in a clutch of court actions. One company said the work involved in renovating the castle became a nightmare after Carbisdale refused to settle more than £30,000 in unpaid bills. Highland Heating Management took Kane to court to seek payment after installing radiators and bathrooms in the castle in autumn 2022. Kane told the Scottish press at the time she had launched a counterclaim of £45,000, claiming an expert report showed the work was not done to standard.