A pensioner who tormented his neighbour by playing Classic FM told a judge 'put the ball and chain on me'.
'Nuisance' Ian George Trainer, 82, was put behind bars for 24 weeks on February 6, after breaching a condition of a restraining order.
Mr Trainer was given a restraining order banning him from playing “any audio at a volume above normal talking level”, considered to be above 65 decibels, between the hours of 9am and 10pm, Liverpool Echo reports.
Mr Trainer, from Aintree, who is a repeat 'noise pollution offender', was previously jailed for the same offence yet continued to "play music at a level I enjoy".
Prosecution Barrister, Simon Leong, told Liverpool Magistrates Cour t how Mr Trainer’s neighbour, Thomas Michael Thompson, had experienced “noise pollution” from his neighbour's property for a number of years.
On Tuesday, December 17, 2019, a police officer attended Mr Trainer's property after being called out for a complaint of noise by Mr Thompson.
You can actually be fined £5,000 for singing too loudly in your car
9 radical new Labour policies this week that got buried by the UK's turbo-crisis
However the court heard, when a police officer arrested him on suspicion of breaching a condition of a restraining order, Mr Trainer told the officer “I like playing music at a level I enjoy.”
The statement, read in court, also reported that Mr Trainer had said he had a bad cold and “could only hear in one ear”.
He also told the officer that being on steroids for a medical condition meant he couldn't wear headphones as they “irritated his ears.”
In court, Mr Trainer, who is hard of hearing, was allowed out of the dock to sit in court and was provided with a listening device so he could hear proceedings.
Giving evidence, neighbour Mr Thompson, said: “It’s not just one day of the week, it’s every day of the week.
“I go out early morning and stay out until late afternoon to avoid the noise.
“It’s just unbelievable at times.”
The court was shown a number of video recordings made by Mr Thompson on his mobile phone, to show what he could hear from his house, which adjoins Mr Trainers'.
In one clip Mr Thompson was seen walking closely to his living room wall, which meets Mr Trainer’s property and music from Classic FM could clearly be heard, which included the sound of the presenters talking.
Defending Keith Webster suggested to the court that Mr Thompson had been angry about Mr Trainer's early release from a previous prison sentence.
He also told the court how on one occasion, when police had been called out to the defendant's home, the noise was "considered too low for the officers to do anything about".
The defence asked for a short recess to the proceedings to have a discussion with Trainer, which was granted.
And upon returning to the courtroom, Trainer sat in his seat, gestured down to his ankle and announced to the court: “Put the ball and chain on here.”
The defence told the judge that Mr Trainer would not be giving evidence.
Source: Read Full Article
