A judge yesterday ordered a couple to remove noisy wind chimes from their garden after a neighbour complained they woke his child and depressed his wife.
Mr Paul and Mrs Angela Fennell were told to get rid of the chimes from "the grounds and environs" of their home at Earslfort Grove, Lucan, Co Dublin. Judge Clare Leonard made the order following complaints from a next-door neighbour, Mr William Thurlow.
Dublin District Court heard Mr Thurlow was granted a similar order last November requiring the Fennells to remove the chimes from outside the front door of their house.
After the case, they moved them to the side of the house where they were even noisier. These broke because the wind blew them against the wall and they got a second set which they put at the end of their back garden. Mr Thurlow said they lived in a cul-de-sac estate and the second set of chimes was even nearer their bedroom than the first set.
"I believe this was just harassment," Mr Thurlow said. Mr Fennell told the court that after the first case they moved the chimes to the side of the house but they were worse because it was very windy there. After they broke, they got a second set and put them at the end of the back garden. "I didn't realise they were annoying him. We do like the sound of them in the garden. They are just an ornament but we would like to come to a compromise so that we can enjoy them".
Judge Leonard said the time for compromise was over and he should have shown some sensitivity to Mr Thurlow following the first case. She ordered that the chimes be removed.