The Telegraph has them as buying the property in 2014. [1] When you purchase a property in the UK you agree to abide by the planning regulations. So they were

The Telegraph has them as buying the property in 2014. [1] When you purchase a property in the UK you agree to abide by the planning regulations. So they were legally required to follow the planning process, which is that you need permission to redevelop a property, including knocking it down before redevelopment. They had already been denied permission for development of the property so there was a very clear and known legal requirement that they willfully disregarded and therefore were subject to penalty imposed by the planning committee. [1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/11525262/Bulldozers-level-historic-pub-the-day-before-it-is-due-to-be-listed.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/11525262/...