Couple forced into psychotherapy due to noisy Town Hall-owned peacock win €4,000 damages

A French couple left depressed insomniacs and forced into psychotherapy by the screeches and squawks of an extremely noisy city-owned peacock have won a €4,000 settlement from the city of Marseille.

The trouble started in the 10th arrondissement of Marseille when the local mayor was given a peacock as a gift in 2008. Soon after the bird began escaping from his pen and would find his way to a local couple’s home, where it would let out its ear-splitting squawks. The verbally assaulted couple in Marseille wrote letters to the Town Hall, demanding action against the noisy creature.



In response to the complaints the city even sent workers out to try and find the bird, but it was to no avail and the situation dragged on. In the meantime the racket let out by the peacock pushed the couple to the edge of sanity. In an earlier lawsuit they claimed to be suffering from various mental maladies like insomnia and depression due to the animal’s cacophony.

In January 2012 they won their suit against the city, but were awarded a mere €100 in damages. Outraged by the meagre payout, the couple took their case to an appeals court, which recently ordered the city to pay €4,000. Much to everyone's relief, the city eventually caught up with the troublesome peacock and sent him to live on a farm far from Marseille.