Man ‘driven insane’ by pond noise admits killing neighbour’s fish

A man who admitted using motor oil and detergent to kill his neighbour’s fish, after being “driven completely insane” by the noise of a water pump in the pond, has been sentenced.

Gerry Duffy, 76, of Hadley Road, Barnet, north London, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial at Willesden Magistrates’ Court to three counts of damaging property and one count of unlawfully destroying fish in March.

The court heard Duffy climbed into Andreas Ptohides’ garden to break the water pump “out of sheer frustration and lack of sleep”, having warned his neighbour he would take matters into his own hands.

Duffy was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £565 in compensation to his neighbour.

Duffy, who worked as a builder before his retirement, lives in a studio flat which backs on to the garden owned by his neighbour, the court heard.

Shahid Iftakhar, prosecuting, said the “neighbour dispute” between Duffy and Ptohides, potentially caused £565 of damage.

He said: “The defendant has previously complained to the complainant about noise coming from his garden and has said words to the effect of, ‘if you didn’t deal with it, I would’ – there was a warning before the incident.”

The prosecution added that Duffy was captured on CCTV having “climbed into the complainant’s garden and damaged the water pipes and pumps”.

In mitigation, Elliott Stern told the court his client had tried to deal with the dispute without resorting to killing the fish.

Mr Stern said: “The man has been driven completely insane by this noise, he’s spoken to the complainant several times.

“They initially said they would stop the water pump going but then turned around and said that’s not good for the fish.”

An environmental officer came to the house and told Duffy he either had to “move or close his window”, the court heard.

“Out of sheer frustration and lack of sleep, Mr Duffy, out of character, I would say, lost his mind and committed various damages,” said Stern.

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