‘It was obvious she needed help,’ she said. ‘She didn’t need an Asbo. I’ve got to say mum didn’t make it easy, but I don’t think taking her to court was the best thing to do. She was genuinely hearing noises – she didn’t have a vendetta against the neighbours.’ Problems started at Mrs Sims’ home in Martello Close, Gosport, Hants., in August 2010, and led to her being given a noise abatement notice by Gosport Borough Council.
Next door neighbours Chris and Tony Adams were asked to keep a record of the problems. Mrs Adams, 54, said: ‘It was absolute hell. It made us ill. We have been let down every step of the way. The law desperately needs to be changed because it does not protect the victims.’ The noise continued and the council applied to the courts for Mrs Sims’ equipment to be seized. She was medically assessed but the problems did not stop.
Mrs Sims was given an interim Asbo in October – which banned her from making noise – and the council applied for a full Asbo. She then admitted two counts of flouting a noise-abatement notice and was given a six-month conditional discharge and told to pay £500 costs by Fareham magistrates. Mrs Sims moved to a new home on the day of the court hearing. The property was sold and the council withdrew its application for a full Asbo.
1 comment:
I sympathize with her neighbors! I live in a terrace house and one of my neighbors is an older woman with hearing difficulties. She would play her tv and radio so loud that you could hear it about 4 houses down. Her tv and radio would drown out anything my husband and I would try to watch on tv, and I could hear her music through earplugs and a white noise machine put on high. She's ok now...I think her other neighbors had a talk with her because I can barely hear her now, and I think she's now receiving help from friends. While I don't think Mrs. Sims should have received an Asbo, she should have received medical intervention. However I really do feel for her neighbors!
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