NOISE NUISANCE MAN FINED
A Cheetingham man paid the price for his vindictiveness at Froghill Magistrate’s Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to committing a public nuisance.
Barrington Wolfe, 54, an unemployed toy sharpener of Sopwith Close, used audio equipment worth an estimated £9,358 to persecute a neighbour to whom he had taken a dislike.
Following a dispute over the neighbour's failure to return a borrowed condom, the court heard how Wolfe subjected the man to over three weeks of non-stop music at earsplitting volume.
“The accused placed his speakers against the party wall dividing their houses,” said prosecuting counsel Peter Chaffe, “and played Elton Ben’s Rockadile Cock repeatedly at volume levels which exceeded those of the space shuttle having an engine tune-up.”
Wolfe’s victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had to be tied to a chair and force-fed powerful sedatives after hearing the song a staggering 8,251 times.
“This is more than purely vindictive, this is straightforwardly inhumane,” continued Mr Chaffe, “as laboratory tests have shown that repeated exposure to the music of Elton Ben leads to a marked increase in suicide among rats.”
Wolfe was fined a total of £750 for committing a public nuisance and ordered to pay £24,000 in costs. He was also forbidden to purchase or hire Elton Ben recordings within a 250 mile radius of Froghill.
01/04/07 @ 09:55