Caught having a slash
Neighbour spotted on CCTV puncturing swimming pool
A NEIGHBOUR was seen on CCTV slashing next door’s pool at dead of night after a four-year dispute.
Stephen Gee was caught tiptoeing into the garden of Maj Jason Little, 46, at 4.30am carrying a heavy item.
He stood behind the above-ground 32ft by 13ft paddling pool for several seconds before creeping away.
Maj Little and his wife Avril came home to find the 900-gallon pool empty, with a hole slashed in the metal wall, and their garden flooded. Maj Little, awarded the MC in battle in Afghanistan, moved to the large detached house next to Gee in Puxey, Dorset with wife Avril and their children in 2012.
He told Poole magistrates’ court: “They seemed to take offence to the fact we have children and the children make noise.
“Whenever they used the pool, they shouted over the fence and would play loud music and stare at them.
“Things happened to the pool that I couldn’t explain so we had cameras installed.” Police said the damage suggested the use of an axe or similar.
Retired aircraft engineer Gee, 63, denied criminal damage but was found guilty.
He was handed a five-year restraining order, fined £500 and ordered to pay £650 costs and £250 compensation.
After the case Gee said he was considering appealing the verdict.
He added: “I know everybody always says ‘It wasn’t me’ but it really wasn’t me. It was just an old pool that burst and leaked.”