Hammer man is fined £540

Neighbours locked themselves in

A Perthshire man went on the rampage with a sledgehammer after a dispute with a neighbour over a garden shed which blocked the view from his kitchen window.

Neighbours were so alarmed at 47-year-old John Carter’s violent behaviour that they locked themselves in their homes and contacted the police.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that the accused’s 54-year-old next door neighbour lived alone and was recovering from a hip replacement operation.

Depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie said there appeared to have been “a fall out” and there had also been numerous allegations of anti-social behaviour. The woman, and another neighbour, were in their respective bedrooms when they heard banging outside, which seemed to be coming from a shed.

“The neighbours spoke to each other by phone and decided not to approach him,” explained Ms Gillespie.

“They stayed within their locked properties and phoned the police.

“He seemed to give up when he couldn’t do any further damage to the shed.”

Officers arrived a short time later and knocked on Carter’s door but they were unable to rouse him.

They took possession of a sledgehammer at the scene but didn’t trace the accused until almost a month later, on October 24.

Carter, of Riverbank Crescent, Kinloch Rannoch, admitted shouting and repeatedly striking the shed with a sledgehammer on September 27 last year.

Solicitor Pauline Culliven said the shed had initially been placed in a “discreet position” but had then been moved to the front of the property.

“It became an obstruction out of his kitchen window,” she added.

There had been “ongoing issues” in relation to that and a local housing association had become involved.

“The complainer subsequently moved away but I can’t say it was because of this.

“He accepts he shouldn’t have gone about this in the manner he did.”

Imposing a £540 fine, Sheriff William Wood said: “It must have been very distressing for this lady, being vulnerable as vulnerable as she was after an operation.”