How privacy fence turned friendly neighbours who gave each other Xmas cards into feuding rivals with restraining order | The Sun

ONCE friendly neighbours have become feuding rivals with a restraining order because of a bitter dispute over a garden fence.

Kenneth O’Connor, 59, and his wife previously had a good relationship with their next-door neighbours Syzmon and Dominika Manka – inviting each other over for garden parties and exchanging Christmas cards.

However, their friendship soured in 2020 when the Mankas tried to put up a new garden fence, which Mr O’Connor claims encroached onto his property, a court has heard.

Tensions then built between the neighbours in the village of Welling, Bexley, in south-east London.

Police were called on one occasion when a “scuffle” broke out between Mr O’Connor and Mr Manka.

Both sides repeatedly made allegations about the other to the cops who tried to mediate in the dispute.

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Mr O’Connor was charged with harassing Mr and Mrs Manka, after he gave a voluntary police interview and was found guilty of harassment in May last year.

The engineering teacher then launched an appeal and appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on May 26 this year to fight the ruling, News Shopper reports.

Acting for Mr and Mrs Manka, barrister Janaka Siriwardena said Mr O’Connor’s behaviour was “irrational and at times spiteful and nasty”.

On a number of occasions Mr O’Connor removed fence panels that his neighbours had erected, the court heard.

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Due to the worsening hostilities between the families, the Mankas installed a CCTV camera which overlooked their neighbour’s garden.

On one occasion Mr O’Connor was seen shining a light at the camera late at night and raising his middle finger up to it.

While on another occasion he is said to have stood in the rain for six minutes looking up at his neighbour’s house.

Miss Recorder A Russell said: “These actions were designed by the appellant to let the Mankas know not only that he knew they were watching, but that he didn’t care.”

One morning Mr Manka approached Mr O’Connor, who was in his car about to set off for work, and asked him where his building materials had gone.

Mr O’Connor told him to “f**k off”.

Then when Mr Manka cycled away he revved his engine behind him and then performed a close and speedy overtake, with the incident being caught on camera by Mr Manka.

The judge said: “This driving was done in a manner to cause Mr Manka distress, and it did do so.”

Mr O’Connor later installed a CCTV camera.

The Mankas claimed this shone a light directly into their young daughter’s bedroom, which meant she had to sleep in their room instead.

They said Mr O’Connor’s actions left them and their daughter feeling threatened, unsafe and anxious.

Mr Siriwardena said:  “Clearly, this was not a one-off incident but a campaign of frankly unacceptable behaviour from a man who should really know better.”

Mr O’Connor denied driving dangerously near Mr Manka and claimed that when he put his middle finger up to the CCTV he was just trying to gauge the camera’s field of view.

Barrister Jason Lartey, representing Mr O’Connor, said: “Mr O’Connor telling Mr Manka to f*** off, essentially ‘leave me alone’, then driving off cannot amount to harassment.”

Mr O’Connor also claimed the dispute had actually started when he had trimmed a jasmine bush in his garden, which he said had annoyed Mrs Manka.

While police reports were made by both sides, Mr O’Connor claimed his reports were ignored and that cops failed to look at the bigger picture in the dispute.

Mr O’Connor said the Mankas were “vindictive”, adding: “What happened was they went about harassing me, so that they could get me for criminal harassment.”

Miss Recorder A Russell and magistrates Demond Niimoi and Christina Wheeler upheld Mr O’Connor’s conviction.

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A restraining order preventing Mr O’Connor from contacting either Mr or Mrs Manka remains in place until 2027.

He was also ordered to pay £1,000 in costs following his appeal.


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