Truce ordered in Connery's NY house row

Published on Thursday 27 December 2007 23:37

IN A bitter court battle over the New York townhouse where they have homes, Dr Burton Sultan described Sir Sean Connery as the antithesis of the suave secret agent he played in James Bond films, claiming he was a "bully who ignores norms of decency".

In response, Sir Sean claimed Dr Sultan's complaints have delayed necessary repairs to the roof, putting his family at risk.

Now a frustrated judge has stepped in to order the pair to end the feud and has barred them from filing any more lawsuits without her permission.

Tossing out most of the legal claims, State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman said the neighbours had engaged in a "slash-and-burn litigation strategy" and rebuked the Connerys for what she called their "blunderbuss" legal salvos.

Both sides have been arguing for years over renovations carried out by Sir Sean, 77, and his family since his stepson Stephane bought the upper two floors of the block in 1998.

The Sultans live on the lower four floors of the townhouse on Upper East Side. Stephane Connery and his wife Tania moved out of the apartment in April 2001 to allow Sir Sean and his wife, Micheline, to occupy the top two floors.

It emerged almost three years ago that the Edinburgh-born actor was being sued in a multi-million-pound lawsuit which described him as a "rude, foul-mouthed, fat old man". Dr Sultan had compared the actor to a "James Bond villain" and accused him of a "terror campaign".

In court papers, Dr Sultan , an ophthalmologist, claimed the Connerys' renovations subjected them to noise, fumes, leaks and rats, damaging their home and ruining their notable collection of Victorian and early 20th-century wicker furniture.

The Connerys branded the claims "ridiculous" and insisted that the protests have delayed much-needed repairs to the roof of the property, inflating the costs of the work.

The warring sides have filed lawsuit after counter-claim in the high-profile dispute.

However, in a strongly worded ruling made public yesterday, Ms Friedman urged the pair to resolve their differences outside the courtroom.

In the 17-page document, she wrote: "Regrettably, both parties to this dispute have engaged in a 'slash-and-burn' litigation strategy."

She fined Dr Sultan $1,000 for repeated filing of lawsuits on issues she had already ruled against him on.