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East Area
TENANT WHO DROVE HIS NEIGHBOURS AWAY HAS SIX WEEKS TO LEAVE - 21 May 2008
A Burngreave man whose excessive noise, violence and abuse forced nearby residents to move has six weeks to leave his flat - or be evicted.
His Honour Judge Swanson made an outright possession order in relation to Adam McNally, aged 47, of Bressingham Close at Sheffield County Court on 15 May.
Sheffield City Council, supported by Sheffield Homes, were seeking possession of the flat because Mr McNally harassed three nearby residents during his tenancy and was a significant, if not the only, factor in two of them moving away.
The Council claimed that Mr McNally was excessively noisy, regularly playing his television and stereo loudly at the same time. He also made false complaints about his neighbours and was violent and abusive towards them.
Mr McNally stated that it was his neighbours who were causing him problems and claimed the Council, and particular Housing Officers, were biased towards him and were not treating him fairly.
However His Honour Judge Swanson found the claims made by the Council were proved and that there was no prospect of Mr McNally’s behaviour changing towards his neighbours or anyone else. He found that although Mr McNally was not a bad man, he had an obsessive and critical personality and that his complaints against the council were unfounded.
Judge Swanson made an outright possession order and ordered Mr McNally to leave within six weeks. If he does not leave within this time the Council can apply for a warrant to evict him.
Meanwhile a Lowedges man has been given a suspended prison sentence for breaching an injunction stopping him from keeping a dog at his Sheffield Homes flat in Callow Mount.
Anthony Sumner, 28, found his case back before Sheffield County Court on 16 May for breaching an injunction made by the court in September 2007. Tenants are forbidden from keeping dogs in large blocks of flats with shared entrances and walkways. Since the order was made, Sumner has continued to bring his dog to his flat and keep it there for periods of time, prompting complaints.
His Honour Judge Swanson sentenced him to four weeks in prison, suspended until his injunction runs out in September 2008, after finding the allegations against Mr Sumner proved. If Mr Sumner breaches the injunction again, he will risk being sent to prison for four weeks as well as being punished for the further breach.
Joanne Roney, Executive Director of Neighbourhoods and Community Care, said: “These cases send out the message that people will not get away with making their neighbours’ lives a misery in Sheffield. We will continue to use all the powers made available to us by the courts.”