Connery hits out at 'tyrant' neighbour

Sir Sean Connery has branded a neighbour a "tyrant" in a fresh round of lawsuits.

The neighbour accused the 74-year-old Scot of making life a living hell.
Dr Burton Sultan filed a £15.7 million (30 million US dollars) legal action which describes Sir Sean as a "rude, foul-mouthed, fat old man" who has ruined his adjoining Manhattan apartment.

He claims the Hollywood legend is trying to drive him out of the luxury townhouse in order to buy the property at a knock-down price.

But in five suits filed against Dr Sultan, Sir Sean, his wife Marilyn and their son Stephane claim it is he who is the real villain.

In court papers obtained by the New York Post, the Connery family claims Dr Sultan "has embarked on a campaign of harassing" them.

The papers accuse their neighbour of jeopardising their health and safety and deliberately blocking repair work.

"It's clear that the condominium cannot function if it is run by defendant, Burton Sultan, out of his office... in Old Westbury as a tyrant," reads one of the suits.

But the Sultans have a contrasting version of events, accusing Sir Sean of allowing workers to create a deafening noise, fumes, dripping water and an infestation of rats.

Papers filed in a New York court describe one alleged incident when "Connery himself answered the door in his bathrobe, unkempt and dishevelled".

The Sultans claim Sir Sean has been living in the two-storey Upper East Side apartment, owned by his son Stephane, since April 2001.

The actor's publicist has dismissed the allegations, insisting Sir Sean lives in the Bahamas and is rarely in New York.