A tycoon’s claims she is selling her Highland castle because the area is not ready for a transgender owner were yesterday rubbished by locals who insisted she had alienated the community.
Locals said they were ‘delighted’ when self-styled lady of the manor Samantha Kane bought Carbisdale Castle, near Bonar Bridge, Sutherland, in 2022 with plans to bring the 29-bedroomed property back into use.
But they claim the relationship turned sour when she started putting up fences and signs preventing them from accessing forestry pathways they had helped clear around the 117-year-old building.
The barrister, who named herself Lady Carbisdale after buying the property for £1.2million, is believed to be the only person in the UK to have changed genders three times.
She claims she has put the property on the market for £5million because of ‘hurtful’ comments made about her gender identity, claiming the area ‘is not ready’ for a transgender custodian of the castle.
But Anne Henderson, 69, who owns the farm than borders land at Carbisdale Castle said it has nothing to do with her gender.
She said: ‘We are a very welcoming and open community. We are happy to have anybody here. It is so beautiful and we want to share it. It’s almost like a safe haven – we have people of all persuasions who come and live here. We accept people at face value unless they prove themselves otherwise.’
Mrs Henderson claims her family felt ‘threatened’ by Ms Kane, who turned up at her house following a meeting last November when her plans to bring public land into her private ownership were turned down.
She said: ‘She presented herself at our farmhouse the next day and I invited her into the kitchen. She then proceeded to accuse us of ruining her business.’
When her husband Robert eventually asked her to leave, Mrs Henderson said: ‘She tried to get my husband to hit her, she kept saying “go on you know you want to hit me”.’
She also claimed that since Ms Kane took over she has claimed part of a field that belongs to the farm as part of her expansion plans.
Locals also accused Ms Kane of putting up fences to stop them getting access to public land surrounding the castle.
One local businesswoman, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It wasn’t a case of not being ready [for her]. It’s got nothing to do with that.
‘Sadly she didn’t get the locals onboard. Everyone was delighted when she bought the castle and were really looking forward to it being used again. But unfortunately she alienated them by pushing them out instead of welcoming them.
‘She stopped people getting to some of the accesses. A lot of locals helped clear paths away – they just wanted to use the area. But she alienated the locals, the locals didn’t alienate her’.
Another said: ‘She was stopping people walking on land that was supposed to belong to the forestry. Anyone can walk there but she was putting up fences and putting up signs saying it was private property. She was chasing people off the land and taking benches away.’
Paul Whittock, who owns Ardgay Garage, also hailed Ms Kane’s claims about the Highlands not being ready for someone who has changed gender as ‘absolute rubbish’
‘It’s got nothing to do with that whatsoever,’ he said. ‘I deal with a lot of people and I’ve never heard anyone say anything about that. It’s got more to do with her behaviour.
‘She wasn’t doing anything for anybody, just herself
‘When she came up it was all nicely, nicely, saying what a great place it was to live and she mingled with the locals. But then she wanted to expand the area around the castle. That’s when the cracks started to appear. She was doing all sorts of crazy things.’
Other locals, many of whom refused to give their name for fear of reprisals from the multi-millionaire barrister, told how she joined the community council ‘when she wanted plans put through’. Months later, the rest of the members resigned ‘en mass’ because of her ‘nasty’ behaviour.
There were angry recriminations and a visit from the police last November when she faced the wrath of locals over her proposals for land surrounding the castle.
Locals are now in the process of electing a new committee to take the community forward.
Taxi driver Ronnie MacNeill said: ‘She’s fallen out with everybody. She’s just trying to take over everything.
‘I’ve never met her but I’ve experienced speaking to her on the phone. She called to order a taxi.’
When she eventually gave him her name he felt he had no option but to tell her to find someone else to collect her, as he said ‘she was ranting and raving’.
One woman who moved from overseas ten years ago said it was ‘sad that she couldn’t be happy here’. And believed she had ‘missed an opportunity’ to work with the community.
She believed Highlanders were ‘quite open to newcomers’ and said: ‘We need people to come here – the Highlands needs fresh blood. It’s sad this has turned out this way and I hope she has a happy life, it’s just sad she couldn’t be happy here.’
Local councillor Michael Baird, however, said there was an ‘element of truth’ to what Ms Kane was saying and claimed the same ‘small community around the castle’ had ‘hounded out’ a previous developer nine years ago.
Ms Kane last night refuted the claims made by locals.
She said: ‘All of these people are obviously motivated by some sort of hate or jealousy or prejudice. It’s complete lies and utter nonsense.
‘I try my very, very hardest to renovate the castle, I offer jobs to the local community, I open up the castle for the local community. I have done everything in my power to be friendly and nice. But the castle is being disrespected. I am leaving the place and I am still being hounded by lies and nonsense.’
