Lord of the Chance

Blackpool's amateur publication The​ Evening Gazette caught our attention today with a lengthy and detailed article about a thuggish attack in Blackpool. But this wasn't just your typical Blackpool brawl - incredibly the victim was a peer of the realm!

From The Gazette

'Lord' Perry Harber, who "has a vast portfolio of nightclubs and bars and regularly holidays in Monaco" according to the Gazette article, claims he was hit over the head from behind with a full bottle of vodka by a gang in an alleyway behind Dickson Road, Blackpool on January 1st this year.

The Gazette go on to list just some of Lord Perry Harber's amazing credentials and achievements. As Lord of the Manor of Glascombe, Harber "presides over almost 15,000 acres of land". He "has invested in a number of businesses in Lytham" and is a "businessman and charity fundraiser". Not to mention his incredible ability to identify the precise contents and volume of bottles simply by being struck over the back of the head by them.

It immediately seems unlikely that such a man of noble birth would be hanging around an alleyway in Dickson Road on a cold January night. But surely Gazette checked the facts? Lord Perry Harber is a real Lord, isn't he?

A conman pretending to be a Lord sounds like the premise of a 1970s British sitcom and not the sort of thing you’d expect anyone to fall for these days. However, this is Blackpool, which even in 2017 is still rather like something out of a ropey 1970s British sitcom.

'Lord’ Perry Dean Harber, born November 1956, has an official website which repeats many of the brags contained in the article. The site is well worth a browse as his collection of YouTube videos backing up his claims are nothing short of hilarious. Our personal favourite is the video about his super yacht brokering business Harber Marine which features stock footage of yachts, promises a 'discreet service' but contains absolutely no contact information whatsoever (you don't get more discreet than that). The website for Harber Marine appears under construction - it features a photo of a yacht (the first photo that appears in a Google image search of super yachts) and nothing else. But the genius of its name means that despite almost certainly not existing, Google returns plenty of yacht-related search results (showing results for 'harbour marine').

Other sources tell a slightly different story. An article from The Birmingham Post from 4th March 1998 reported:

“Police are investigating the sudden disappearance of a Midland pub landlord and his wife who called themselves Lord and Lady Gascombe [sic] after buying the title.

The aristocracy-loving Gloucester publican - real name Perry Harber - and his wife, Donna, suddenly let the city's TNT pub and The Junction pub in Stroud, leaving behind staff who claimed they were owed wages.”

Hmm.

We’ve all heard of people buying titles, but can you actually buy the lifestyle that goes with true nobility? Someone with an actual hereditary title of nobility is Richard Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford. He explains:  “You cannot purchase a genuine British title, with one exception, the feudal title of a Scottish baron; and certainly cannot buy a peerage title”.

The title ‘Lord of the Manor’ is nothing but a historical remnant of an extinct feudal system. It is possible to purchase these redundant titles, but one cannot legitimately call themselves ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady’. Having purchased a manorial title the correct address would be ‘Mr Perry Harber, Lord of the Manor of Glascwm’. Some persons have tried to get around this by changing their first name by deed poll to ‘Lord’, bumping their previous first name to a middle name; however the correct legal address for such a person would still be ‘Mr Lord Perry Harber’.

But whatever he ought to be called, does 'Lord' Perry really have claim to 14,776 acres of land along with the title he bought? Not by default. Land ownership is covered by modern property laws and the title can be sold separately. Such an area of land could today be valued at around £148,000,000. Does Perry Harber have this sort of wedge?

A quick search of bankruptcy notices reveals that Perry Harber has been declared bankrupt at least THREE times.

His first bankruptcy is dated 16th April 1998 - one month after he allegedly ran away from a Gloucester pub with all the takings.

His second bankruptcy order is dated 5th February 2009, and this is where it gets interesting, because the order states that at this time Harber was residing in Cleveleys.

No more search results for 'Perry Harber' occur on the register, but after Evening Gazette showed his face some locals recognised him from a recent period where he ran (or rather failed to run properly) Blackpool bar 'Venom', and under the name 'Perry Khan'.

Apparently this didn't go so well, and Blackpool Police recorded multiple breaches of licensee conditions.

A search under this pseudonym resulted in us finding yet another bankruptcy order dated June 2015.

So what is he doing now? The Gazette says he is investing in Lytham businesses, but which ones? This isn't a man shy about publicity, so why is everything so vague and non specific?

On his official Twitter account he suggests that he has invested in swanky Lytham restaurant Portofino. Actually this caught our investigative eye over a month ago and we let the eatery know about this claim.

Also, pretty shocking spelling for a Lord. (Restaurant sean??) We did wonder if he was actually in league with The Gazette but that line of enquiry led nowhere.

All these vague, distorted, or outright untrue claims seem like the work of either a fantasist, or a confidence trickster. Which is Perry?

The Gazette mentions his 'charity fundraising' and Lord Perry's own 'charity' called 'My Care In' which supposedly raises awareness of the rare genetic disorder Angelman's Syndrome.

The charity isn't registered with the Charities Commission, so we asked him outright for registration information. No reply was received via Twitter but within a few days a registration number appeared on the 'My Care In' website.

We searched this number on the charity register and it was not valid. However we ran it by company house and it IS a registered limited company. Not a charity. Not even a community interest company that at least has to put profits back into its cause. A money making limited company. You can give money to My Care In LTD using PayPal via the​ website but don't expect it to be used for charitable purposes.

So well done Gazette for yet another unchecked article which has done nothing but give publicity and lend credence to fake 'Lord' Perry Harber, who bought a title, went bankrupt (twice), made a lot of amateur videos for YouTube and set up a fake charity.

We don't believe his super yacht business Harber Marine exists or has sold a single yacht, not even to Perry's Twitter associate Harvey DeVere, who shares Perry's atrocious spelling and drives a 'Firrari'.