Bizarre row over pile of leaves ends up in court

Pensioner accused of dumping them on neighbour’s drive

APENSIONER was accused of deliberately trying to ‘upset’ her neighbour by allegedly ‘dumping leaves on his drive’, in a bizarre row which has ended up in court.

Margaret O’Sullivan, aged 69, was charged with ‘harassing’ Dennis Haycox by depositing garden waste at the front of his home.

The pair have lived next to each other for around four years on Trinity Road, in Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield. But Mr Haycox said he returned home one evening to find a pile of leaves in front of his garage door.

He checked his CCTV and saw they had been tipped there by a woman with a walking stick, who he claimed to be Ms O’Sullivan, the court heard.

However, halfway through a trial at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Lucy Hogarth threw out the accusation ruling there was ‘no case to answer’ for the defendant.

She described the act as ‘innocuous’ and concluded there was no evidence to indicate it was ‘oppressive and unacceptable’ to warrant an offence of harassment.

O’Sullivan, who did not attend the proceedings, was subsequently discharged and found not guilty.

Giving evidence Mr Haycox described what he saw when he returned home from the doctors around 6.15pm on January 20, 2021.

He said: “There were leaves that next-door had deposited there. Leaves and garden rubbish. All plants she had obviously taken from her rear garden and deposited onto my drive.

“I identified the leaves from a particular bush which adjoins to my house.”

Asked how it made him feel he added: “Uneasy and uncomfortable because of previous incidents. I saw that as harassment.

“Of course I wouldn’t have been bothered about the fact it’s just a few leaves. It’s the fact she deposited those leaves on my drive to harass with the intention of upsetting me and my wife.”

The court heard that Ms O’Sullivan denied she was the person captured on CCTV dropping the leaves from a red-coloured container.

In cross-examination he accepted it was not ‘impossible’ someone else could have dumped the waste but he denied he was ‘mistaken’ as to suspecting it was Ms O’Sullivan.

Mr Haycox also rejected the suggestion he was simply ‘inconvenienced, disgruntled and irritated’ and said: “No, it was harassment.”

In her police interview Ms O’Sullivan stated she had not had any recent issues or even contact with Mr Haycox.

She denied dumping the garden rubbish saying it would be ‘impossible’ for her to lift or carry it due to medical conditions.

Throwing the case out Judge Hogarth said: “This is a case where I have been given no context whatsoever in terms of admissible evidence. What I have on the face of it is an almost innocuous act which seems to have resulted in a disproportionate reaction by Mr Haycox.

“I’m not saying he did act disproportionately.

“What I’m saying is the evidence before the court is completely shorn of context and having not heard about any previous incidents what Mr Haycox’s evidence is based on is his view of what Ms O’Sullivan’s intention was.”

Further, she concluded there was no evidence of any ‘alarm or distress’ from the complainant and stated that courts had to distinguish between ‘irritating’ behaviour and that which could be deemed ‘oppressive and unacceptable’.

After the ruling prosecutor Mauzam Razaq confirmed in 2021 O’Sullivan had been subjected to a restraining order after being convicted of assaulting Mr Haycox and harassing his wife.