内容摘要：British and Irish expats have described being driven out of Portugal after locals allegedly killed t

British and Irish expats have described being driven out of Portugal after locals allegedly killed their pets and hounded them with violent threats. 

Lynn and Richard Appleby-Brisco moved abroad in 2016 in the hope of starting a more 'affordable' life with their two young daughters in Portugal's Guarda district and featured in Channel 4's Our Wildest Dreams. 

But the experience soon became a nightmare after a group of Portuguese villagers launched a campaign of hate against them that saw their dog Cu - an estrela mountain cross retriever - die after being attacked. 

Another expat with a horrifying story to tell is Orla Dargan, a 65-year-old former City of London investment banker who retired to the Algarve but was forced into hiding after an 'aggressive' neighbour took over her land and drove her out of her home.

The mother-of-two, who is originally from Dublin, lived happily in the €600,000 villa for several years before her neighbour, an estate agent she describes as a 'dangerous' man, moved in next door.

She went on to face years of threatening behaviour, including an alleged attempt to drive her off the road near her home, before the body of her beloved rescue dog was found floating in a shallow well with horrifying injuries.

Lynn and Richard Appleby-Brisco moved abroad in 2016 to start a more 'affordable' life with their two daughters (all pictured together) in Portugal's Guarda district

The family's move to the remote village was filmed for Channel 4's Our Wildest Dreams. They are pictured on the show in 2018 

 Orla Dargan, who is from Dublin but spent much of her career in the City of London, was involved in a boundary dispute in Portugal that she said led to the death of her dog, Henry 

Ms Dargan, 65, bought her dream Portuguese villa for around €600,000 in 2016

The Appleby-Briscos, who are from Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, said their other animals were also targeted by angry neighbours. 

They claim a local admitted to stealing their cat Ponyo and kitten bubbles in January, and that their goats were poisoned.

Ms Appleby-Brisco, 51, claims that when she confronted a villager about the mystery deaths, she was told: 'We've taken your pets and you're next

She told The Sun: 'I just couldn't take it anymore, and it was my absolute lowest point.

'I was scared to be in the house on my own so I would hang around the biggest local town all day to feel safe.

EXCLUSIVEREAD MORE: My dream retirement to Portugal became a nightmare when neighbour tried to steal my land, someone tried to ram my car off the road and my dog was tortured to death - I fear for my life 

Advertisement

'It was so bad that when I would go down to the farm I would carry a knife with me, and I consider myself a pacifist.'

The family believe they inadvertently put a target on their backs after their episode aired in 2018.

Among the outrageous incidents of harassment, the family were spat at and called 'English pigs' - while rumours were spread about Ms Appleby-Brisco being a devil-worshipping prostitute after she planted flowers outside their home.

The family-of-four flew home to the UK in February with a small suitcase holding a change of clothes and pyjamas.

Ms Appleby-Brisco and her children, Emily, 12, and Yvie, 10, are now living in a one-bed apartment, while their father is still trying to sell the property in Portugal and drive back all of their belongings.

The family have raised £3,700 through a GoFundMe page to try and recover from the failed plot to move abroad.

On the page, Ms Appleby-Brisco wrote: 'We arrived in Portugal almost eight years ago full of excitement of starting a new, sustainable life. We were followed by the film crew from Channel 4's Our Wildest Dreams as we wanted to inspire others. 

'Initially our lives were great, we wanted to integrate locally so didn't mix as much with the expats, put our girls in the village school, bought a little farm on the edge of the village, started to learn the language better, did everything we thought right. 

'Little did we know there was a storm of resentment in the village towards us, we had done nothing wrong so why would we even question it.'

Channel 4 has been approached for comment.

Lynn said she was 'scared to be in the house' on her own and would 'carry a knife' when she went down to the farm

Richard is pictured building their Portugal home before they were forced back to the UK

The family have raised £3,700 through a GoFundMe page to try and recover from the failed plot to move abroad

Orla Dargan's long-running issues with her neighbour came to a head in 2021 when she returned to visit family in Ireland to find diggers had been ordered onto her land, with the fence between their properties moved and a pumphouse for a hot tub erected nearby.

Years of legal wrangling ensued, with a judge eventually siding with Ms Dargan and ordering the neighbour to return her land - which has still not happened more than a year on.

Has your holiday home dream been turned into a nightmare? Email [email protected] 

Advertisement

The most chilling part of her ordeal was the brutal 'killing' of her beloved rescue dog, who first went missing on the day of a court appearance and was later found dead, floating in a shallow well with horrific injuries.

This series of disturbing events has left Ms Dargan living in fear and suffering from PTSD, and she fled the Algarve last year 'for her own safety', moving between addresses in Portugal and Spain to avoid detection.

David Mapley, a fraud investigator who has been assisting the expat, said her case is an extreme example of the common occurrence of 'land grabbing' in the region - which he and others refer to as the 'Algrab'.

Years after divorcing her husband, Ms Dargan bought her dream house in Santa Barbara De Nexe, an area popular with British and Irish ex-pats and known for its celebrity residents, in the hope of having a quiet life after a high-flying career.

'It's a very small town, home to some of the wealthiest houses in the Faro district. I just wanted a quieter place to live, but it turned into a nightmare,' she told MailOnline.

When her neighbour first moved in, Ms Dargan claims his construction workers 'harassed and intimidated' her, saying they threw rubbish into her property and urinated publicly in front of it. 

Ms Dargan's dog Henry went missing and was found dead in a shallow well

Things went from bad to worse, she said, when a boundary dispute erupted in March 2021, with Ms Dargan claiming her neighbour ordered the workers to infringe onto her land.

She says he had moved the fence between their properties, digging up the earth and putting piles of rocks along it to increase the height of the property - making a 'mess' of her property as they gave way.

READ MORE - Dreaming of a life abroad? British expats in France, Spain, Vietnam and Indonesia reveal if the grass really IS greener on the other side - and what they miss about the UK
Advertisement

A small construction and air vent for the neighbour's jacuzzi had also been put up, she said, 'on the edge' of her land, with a pipe coming through the fence releasing 'toxic waste' onto her side.

After she challenged him over the apparent land grab, she says he shouted at her and she ran back into her house, fearing he would turn to 'physical violence'.

She began to lock her doors and windows, fearing for her safety and that of her Portuguese partner, who she lived with at the time.

In July, her neighbour was ordered to hand back her land, which he appealed and refused to do. 

Days later, she claims she had been driven off the road by an SUV, forcing her much smaller car into a ditch.

Ms Dargan's son said his usually calm mother called him immediately afterwards in a state of 'emotional distress'.

She increased security measures, installing CCTV cameras, before she and her partner moved out in January 2022 for the house to undergo a renovation.

The sea view from Ms Dargan's property, which she says she has been unable to live at for more than a year due to renovation works and the alleged threat posed by her neighbour

Ms Dargan (pictured in Faro) was forced to move between various addresses in Portugal and Spain to avoid detection