Man banned from his own home

A homeowner who terrorised his next-door neighbours for five years has been banned from living and sleeping in his own house in what could be a legal first.

A court order has been imposed on Carl Bridson, 40, after he waged a campaign of harassment on his neighbours by shouting abuse, playing loud music through the night and damaging their car.

He forced Andrew Pennington, 45, whom he nicknamed Teletubby, to retreat to his garage to grab a few hours’ sleep before his early shifts as a postman. Mr Pennington, and his wife Janette, 45, also had blackcurrant cordial poured into their car and a new conservatory flooded and smoked out. Their fence panels went missing and reappeared, cemented into Bridson’s garden, and the CCTV camera that they put up to monitor his behaviour was shot down with an air rifle.



The final straw came when the terrified couple heard Bridson say: “Tellytubby had a chance to move but didn’t, so he’s going to get trouble.”

The couple breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after magistrates in Bolton ordered Bridson to abide by a restraining order that bans him from living in his own home after he is released from a six-month prison sentence for harassing them. He will only be allowed to visit his house at set times.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was an order made for a breach of a restraining order. It is not possible to say whether similar orders have been made before.”