Louise Morton sued by Thallon Mole over $640k in allegedly unpaid construction bills
A wealthy doctor’s wife and Brisbane socialite was allegedly caught on tape telling one of Queensland’s top luxury builders she’d “f*** him over” after throwing him off the construction site of her $6m trophy home. READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT
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A wealthy doctor’s wife and former regular on Brisbane’s social scene went on an extraordinary expletive-laden tirade against one of Queensland’s top luxury builders, allegedly threatening to “f*** him over” after throwing him off the construction site of her $6m trophy home.
“My pockets are deep, my time is long and I will f*** you over,” mother Louise Morton, 49, who is married to oncologist Anthony James Morton, allegedly told builder Bruce Mole, director of high-end construction company Thallon Mole on April 10, 2019 when Mrs Morton claims she terminated the building contract.
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“I will take this as far as it needs to go, and I warned you and I will,” Mrs Morton is alleged to have told Mr Mole, in an audio recording made by Mr Mole.
Mrs Morton, who was in court to hear the tape played of her stoush with Mr Mole, is defending a claim against her by Thallon who sued claiming she owes them $638,634 for unpaid bills under a building contract for work constructing her three-storey house with pool in Holland Park.
“I told you to f*** off. Get out of my life and f*** the hell off out of my life I never want to see you again I never want to deal with you. You are scum get out,” Mrs Morton is heard yelling on the audio recording.
“I paid multi-millions for this and I’ve worked for years,” she told Mr Mole of her dream home on Otway St.
“You made my life a misery. I can’t begin to tell how disgusted I am with you, you are a piece of shit. now get lost.
“Piss off there is no negotiating Bruce.”
When Mr Mole told Mrs Morton “You don’t need to be so aggressive” she is alleged to have replied:” Oh get f***ed. Aggressive? you are a piece of shit. piss off.”
Thallon alleges Ms Morton did not terminate the building contact in April 2019, rather they terminated the contract on July 11.
They allege they were willing to complete the contract but that Ms Morton failed to pay progress payments and in April unlawfully seized possession of the home and excluded Thallon from the site.
Mrs Morton, who was in court yesterday to hear the tape played of her stoush with Mr Mole, is defending a claim against her by Thallon who sued claiming she owes them $638,634 for unpaid bills under a building contract for work constructing her three-storey house with pool in Holland Park.
Barrister Cate Heyworth-Smith, for Thallon Mole, submitted to the court that the tape recording of the discussion is relevant to Mrs Morton’s “credit” because it “speaks to her motivation in relation to non-payment”.
The building contract was signed in December 2016 but the completion was delayed by problems with the installation of a pair of high-end European glass and aluminium stackable doors, each 2.8m high, which opened from the massive open-plan kitchen-lounge-dining to a covered terrace overlooking the pool.
The four panel and five panel modern-minimalist designer glass doors which could slide both ways and stack at any location, were worth up to $170,000, were due to be put in September 2017 but could not be installed.
Ultimately doors by Swiss-designer homewares company Vitrocsa replaced the unsuitable doors by prestigious German company Schuco.
There were also disputes between Mrs Morton and Thallon Mole over the installation and selection of the frameless glass balustrading around the pool, and the type of waterproofing agent used underneath the tiled garden terraces.
Mrs Morton is cross-claiming against Thallon Mole seeking $327,308 from Thallon alleging that she paid Thallon $4.37m in 2019 when the adjusted contract price was just $4.05m.
Mrs Morton bought the house site for $1.8 million in 2012 then knocked the home down, property records show.
She alleges she had to pay Hutchinson Builders as much as $513,470 to fix Thallon’s defective and incomplete work which included $2890 to remove all “finger marks” from the copper ceiling over the entry.
The home contract states that the cost of windows, external doors and blinds alone was due to come to $368,483.
Mr Mole told the court that the average price of homes he builds is $3.5m.
He said he believed they would reach “practical completion” of the house build on April 8, 2019, two days before the ugly confrontation with Mrs Morton where she told him to leave the building site.
The trial before Judge Catherine Muir continues today.
Judge Muir yesterday noted that the audio recording appeared to only be “marginally relevant” to the issues of the case.
The home was designed by Fortitude Valley firm Tim Stewart Architects and features expensive designer finishes including both zinc and copper external cladding on the upper storey, as well as stone cladding on the ground floor, a lift, underfloor heating, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, motorised internal and external blinds and top-end finishes such as marble fireplace surrounds and copper or wood-lined ceilings.
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