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A Somerset YouTuber is being sued by a multi-millionaire from Kent.

Property mogul Fergus Wilson, 69, is suing Danny Hyde, 29, from Glastonbury , who runs Danny Hyde TV, over what he believes is a "grossly offensive" video published in March 2017.

Mr Wilson claims the video breaches the 1988 Malicious Communications Act.

The video was posted in response to claims which saw Mr Wilson found to be in breach of the equality act with his policy on who could let his properties. This included prohibiting “coloureds”.

(Image: SWNS)

Mr Hyde, who claims he only has £100 to his name, has seen his story picked up by the national press and Mr Hyde says has been flooded with support from the public.

He said: “People have been asking me to set up a crowd funder to help me raise the £9,999 he is suing me for.

“They have been so supportive, I haven’t had one bad message.

“I was worried at first but with the support I feel a lot less stressed and I want to thank people for that.

“If he had just called me and asked me to take it down because it upset him I would have done.

“But he found out where I live and sent me a letter. He is suing me for £9,999 under the Malicious Communications Act plus court fees.

“I haven’t got anyone yet but am working towards getting legal representation.

“The point is I am a YouTuber, I get insults all the time and I know how to take it. All I did was see a story on Sky News and commented on it in a vlog. What he said really struck a chord with me and wound me up, so I made a video about it. It isn’t even one of my favourite videos and it got less than 1,000 views at the time.”

Mr Wilson told the Kent Messenger that legal action against the vlogger was not because of any implication that he was racist but because of the language he chose in the expletive-laden video

The Maidstone resident said: "I won't take action over people who say I'm racist because there are too many people and I can't sue them all.

"It's not the content of what he wanted to say, it was the language that he selected, I was appalled at what this chap said in his opening sentence."

Why did Mr Hyde say Fergus Wilson “looks like a racist”?

Mr Wilson sent an email to a letting agency saying he did not want coloured people occupying his properties. His email read: “No coloured people because of the curry smell at the end of the tenancy.”

It was also disclosed to a court that he refused to rent to plumbers and single parents. He also previously issued a ban on “battered wives”.

The landlord made £250 million selling his property empire to investors in 2015.

In November, Maidstone County Court found that Wilson's ban of non-white tenants was unlawful as it breached section 12 of the 2010 Equality Act.

In court, Mr Wilson denied he was a racist and told the court he was one of the few landlords who would take black tenants.

At first he insisted he was joking about the ban in his email to the letting agent. He later defended it, saying it was put in place on economic, not racial, grounds due to the costs of cleaning properties left with curry smells.

An injunction was granted, banning him from applying criteria discriminating against "coloured" tenants or those of Indian or Pakistani backgrounds.

It will remain in place for three years and he was also ordered to pay costs of £2,665, if Mr Wilson complies with the ruling, no further action will be taken.

If he were to persist with the policy, it may be considered contempt of court and he could be fined.

The current law suit

Fergus Wilson is suing Danny Hyde under the Malicious Communications Act after he published a video claiming the landlord was "coming across as racist".

The claim says, and this is verbatim from the court documents: “You are the person who posted of caused to be posted on a Grossly Offensive email on YouTube in breach of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.

“I claim from you £9,999.99 in damages and an injunction from the Court that you should not repeat such a thing and that the offending video clip will be removed within days.

“I have used Social Media to trace you and confirm that you are the person concerned.”

Mr Hyde said: "I must have had 300 subscribers at the time, it's a very small channel and I didn't even think he would see it, I was just venting because it angered me.

"I just gave my opinion on a mainstream news story.

"I did call him some names but my main point was that if you have a problem with curry, ban it like smoking.”

Danny added "It's a pain in the a***, I've got other things I'd rather be focusing on.

"I get insulted all the time for what I do but I just laugh about it. If I had the money to sue someone, I still wouldn't.”

It is understood that the case will be heard in Yeovil on January 31.