Man Pleads Guilty to Damaging Neighbour's Pond Over Noise
Gerry Duffy, 76, received a two-year conditional discharge after destroying a fishpond, killing Koi carp, and damaging equipment.
Carla Rooney
Gerry Duffy pleaded guilty to damaging his neighbour's pond and fish in March.
Shahid Iftakhar confirmed Duffy had previously complained to his neighbor, Andreas Ptohides, about noise from his garden. Duffy issued a stark warning to Ptohides: "if you didn’t deal with it, I would."
if you didn’t deal with it, I would.
Elliott Stern, representing Duffy, claimed the relentless sound of the water pump drove his client "completely insane." Stern stated Ptohides initially agreed to stop the pump but then reversed course, asserting its necessity for the fish.
Duffy lives in a studio flat backing directly onto Ptohides' garden. The prosecution, Matthew Cornish, believes some planning underpinned the incidents, given they occurred over three separate days.
Shahid Iftakhar detailed that Duffy "climbed into the complainant’s garden and damaged the water pipes and pumps." An environmental officer had previously suggested Duffy could "move or close his window" to mitigate the noise.
Duffy received a two-year conditional discharge order for the offense. While the damage was assessed at £565, Ptohides claimed the total damage amounted to £800.