OAP in court over parking feud with neighbour
Pensioner repeatedly bumped car with his 4x4
AGRUMPY old man has been shamed by a court after he used his pickup truck to repeatedly ram his next door neighbour’s car out of the way so he could park outside his home.
Clive Chapman, 72, would deliberately bump the woman’s Ford Focus along the road so he could squeeze his black 4x4 Nissan Navara outside his Victorian mid-terraced property at the end of a suburban cul-de-sac.
Police were called in after the woman set up a CCTV camera, which captured Chapman hitting her vehicle seven times without telling her. Her car was left with paint damage and needed retouching.
Enquiries revealed Chapman, from Davenport, Stockport, had been in an on-going feud with his neighbour over parking on Warren Road.
In a statement, the woman said: “This is an ongoing situation when I have parked outside my house before he comes home. I feel very intimidated by this man. Sometimes he parks up very close to me so that I have no access to my boot. He has ample space to park his car behind me. I feel very distressed by all of this.”
Chapman admitted seven charges of driving without due care and attention and seven charges of failing to report an accident at Stockport Magistrates’ Court.
He was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay a £275 fine.
The incidents took place over a four-week period in October last year.
The complainant had installed CCTV outside her house because of the ongoing parking dispute.
Prosecutor Victoria Norman said: “These incidents all happened on Warren Street in Stockport and were reported by... a neighbour of the defendant.
“The parties are neighbours and share parking outside their houses on the public highway. The complainant parked her Ford Focus on the street, leaving the vehicle secure and unattended and she has CCTV outside.
“The footage shows the defendant driving his vehicle a Nissan Navara - a large four by four pickup truck style vehicle - into their street and reverse parking into the space next to her vehicle. He then drives forward hitting her vehicle on each of the seven occasions.
“She feels this is a result of parking disputes between them both and her getting home first and him struggling to find a parking space outside his house.
“The CCTV shows the defendant hitting her vehicle, getting out and having a little look and then going into his house, he never told her about the damage. There was damage to the paintwork.”
In mitigation, defence lawyer Robert Stewart: “It is always an unfortunate situation when we have a person of Mr Chapman’s age before the courts. He is deeply disappointed and ashamed.
“He did not feel that failing to stop or failing to report was a serious offence at the time and he just though that she might have gone round to see him.
“There’s been a situation regarding parking where one party believes the other are parking outside their house and the other party believes it’s the other way around. He had no intention to cause any damage and the damage caused was very minor given the size of his vehicle.
“This is an isolated set of circumstances. There has been no further incidents since the police involved in November. He is now no longer a man of good character and feels deeply ashamed about this.”