A company director killed his neighbour’s dog with a garden hoe after warning her that he intended to make her life a misery, a court has been told.
Neville Hill, 48, fell out with Tricia Wales, 60, who lived next door in Yapton, near Arundel, West Sussex, after he complained about her dogs barking and leaving a mess in his lawn.
Relations deteriorated even further when Mr Hill placed a locked gate at the bottom of the garden preventing her from using the shortcut to empty her bins, the court heard. He allegedly warned her that he intended to become the “neighbour from hell”.
Mr Hill appeared before Chichester Magistrates Court in a private prosecution brought by his neighbour. He denies one charge of criminal damage.
He has admitted striking Wurzel, Miss Wales’ five year old border terrier, with the hoe after it strayed onto his property in September last year. However, he denies that he meant to kill the dog....
Miss Wales said she threatened to take him to court if he did not provide her with a key, “at which point he went completely out of control and threw the deeds down”.
“He said, ’you’re going to regret this. I’m going to be the neighbour from hell. I’m going to make your life a misery’.”
