Tyres slashed as noise row turns ugly

Couple's raid caught on CCTV

A COUPLE slashed all four tyres of their neighbour’s car after he asked them to turn their music down.

The pair carried out the raid after dark – but the whole thing was captured on CCTV footage by the victim.

The dispute between neighbours at The Haven, off Inkpen Road in Kintbury, ended up in West Berkshire Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, June 4.

In the dock was 41-year-old Patricia Jane Howe, of The Haven.

Her 40-year-old accomplice, Paul Simon Oakwell, lives with her but did not attend the hearing and the case proceeded in his absence.

Both denied causing criminal damage worth £224 by slashing the tyres of a car belonging to Timothy James Hearne on June 30 last year.

Mr Hearne told magistrates that around 11pm on the eve of the tyre-slashing incident, he had been disturbed by loud music from next door and, as he had to be up for work at 5am, he had banged on the wall by way of complaint.

Seconds later, he said, he was confronted by the defendants on his doorstep and a shouting match ensued.

As the couple head back to their home next door, a male voice is heard to say: “I’ll go and get a few lads round here to sort him out.”

Jennifer Riddell, prosecuting, said Mr Hearne tried to get some sleep despite the noise but the next morning discovered all four tyres of his car had been slashed.

Mr Hearne then revealed he had taken the precaution of training his CCTV camera on his car outside his home.

The footage was screened in court and showed two figures, a man and a woman, making two attempts to stab and slash the tyres before a third, around 3.30am, is successful and the sound of escaping air is heard.

Moments before the raid, a man’s voice asks: “Are you up for this?”

When a woman’s voice replies “yes,” the man asks: “Are you sure?”

Under cross-examination by Nadine Colyer, defending Ms Howe, Mr Hearne conceded that the couple had covered their faces but insisted he could tell it was the defendants by their voices and “body language”.

Upon her arrest Ms Howe answered police questions with “no comment”.

She also declined to go into the witness box and give evidence in her own defence which could then have been tested by cross- examination and Ms Riddell told magistrates that they were entitled to draw an “adverse inference” from that.

Mr Oakwell denied causing the damage in a written statement.

After retiring to confer for 25 minutes, magistrates convicted both Ms Howe and Mr Oakwell.

An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Oakwell who, the court heard, has more than 47 previous convictions.

Ms Howe was bailed while pre-sentence reports are prepared.