Dr Paul Beckett BSc (hons) MSc DPhil CSci MCIEEM MIEnvSc MIAQM MEWI has provided Japanese knotweed expert witness services in landmark Japanese knotweed cases in the UK.

Paul’s areas of expertise are Japanese knotweed, air quality and ecology.

Paul has significant experience in providing Japanese knotweed expert witness services on legal cases, mostly concerning property risks in accordance with appropriate guidance and legislation. This includes being cross-examined in the UK courts and tribunals. He has also provided Japanese knotweed expert witness services in Ireland.

He takes instructions on behalf of claimants or defendants, with approximately a 50:50 split for each. He is increasingly in demand as a single joint expert.

Japanese knotweed cases with expert testimony from Phlorum

Some of the expert witness work he has delivered has been associated with several Japanese knotweed cases that have gained significant attention in the national UK media. Such high profile cases have included:

• Williams and Waistell v Network Rail [2017] and Appeal [2018] – landmark legal case involving two claimants’ actions against a rail operator.
• Ryb v Conways Chartered Surveyors [2019] – a high-profile case in which a surveyor was found negligent in failing to notice knotweed at a property.
• Various v Network Rail [2021] – successful claims by several residents whose land backed onto a railway embankment infested with knotweed.
• Clarke v Abbasi [2022] – widely reported case where a claim of knotweed spreading across a boundary failed.
• Ishmael v Cark [2022] – widely reported case where a claim of knotweed spreading across a boundary failed.
• Downing v Henderson [2023] – successful claim of misrepresentation where a vendor failed to disclose the presence of Japanese knotweed on a property before they sold it.
• Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council [2023] – was a landmark appeal decision that failed in the Supreme Court. Several important implications from this case could influence how future claims are heard, with important lessons for claimants and defendants alike.

Phlorum’s experience as Japanese knotweed Expert Witnesses

Since helping to produce the RICS knotweed guidance for surveyors and to form the Property Care Association (PCA) Invasive Weed Control Group (IWCG), Paul’s work on residential property affected by Japanese knotweed has increased markedly.

This is primarily due to the RICS and PCA creating a system that allows lenders and property professionals to quantify and mitigate knotweed risks on affected properties. Paul is a member of the Expert Witness Institute and has significant legal experience as a Japanese knotweed expert witness.

Paul’s colleagues at Phlorum are also highly experienced in providing expert witness services for Japanese Knotweed. In recent years, our staff have been involved in a large number of cases, working for claimants and defendants and, increasingly, as single joint experts.

Phlorum is keen to develop partnerships with specialist solicitors nationwide (having developed such relationships in Sussex, London, Lincolnshire and the North West) to assist clients in recovering Japanese knotweed removal and treatment costs or in defending claims against them.

Should you require a Japanese Knotweed expert witness for upcoming litigation, please do not hesitate to contact us.