A NORTH Cumbrian man subjected his neighbours to months of loud radio noise because they were granted planning permission for an extension.

The devastating impact of the noise nuisance deliberately inflicted on the couple by 56-year-old John Johnstone was outlined at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, with the male victim saying his wife was left feeling suicidal.

The couple were unable to sleep for weeks while the man has been left with constant ringing in his ears.

Johnstone, of Sleetbeck Road, Roadhead, north of Carlisle, admitted harassment, with the nuisance behaviour continuing from October 17 last year until February 18 of this year.

Prosecutor George Shelley described what happened.

He said the victims moved in the property next door to Johnstone’s house in 2021 and for the first two years there was an amicable relationship between them and the defendant.

“The wall between the two properties is hollow,” said Mr Shelley. This meant that any electronic device such as a radio, if placed next to the wall, could be heard next door but if placed elsewhere in the house there was no problem.

The dispute began in the summer of 2023, when the defendant’s neighbours were granted planning permission for an extension. “Mr Johnstone objected to that, and, during the relevant period, he would deliberately leave his radio playing in his property next to the party wall,” said the prosecutor.

When the couple asked Johnstone to move the radio away from the party wall, he refused. The court then heard a victim impact statement.

The man said that at first the defendant had been an “almost perfect neighbour,” being friendly.

When they applied for planning permission, they told Johnstone, and his response was: “What you do with your property is none of my business.” When asked if he had any objections, he again said it was none of his business.

On October 19, after planning permission was granted, the defendant’s attitude changed. He told the couple they had “bought the wrong house.”

The couple believe that he had fully expected them to be refused permission. He suggested they had “wangled” planning approval. The proposed size of windows for the extension were “too big" and “not justified by the amount of sunshine in Cumbria," he said.

Johnstone claimed that a cherry tree in the couple’s garden endangered the water supply and he asked for a pre-existing roof solar panel to be removed.

Referring to the radio noise, the man said: “Essentially, it was 24 hours per day, seven days a week, only going off when John went to bed at night.

“If he was away over the weekend, it went from Friday morning to Monday evening. There was no explanation. We wrote to him on November 13, but it made no difference.”

The couple even noise insulated the party wall at a cost of £1,192, work that took 21 days to complete. Over Christmas and the New Year, Johnstone was away and the radio was turned up “very loud.”

It was so loud the couple could not sleep. Eventually, the couple had a stand-up row with Johnston in the garden. The man had to consult his doctor and now has permanent tinnitus. Their dream of a perfect retirement was destroyed, he said.

“He is making my wife, his neighbour, feel suicidal,” said the man, adding: “I can’t find the words to explain how devastatingly upsetting this period of our lives has been due to the actions of one man.

“We offered to have a discussion to find a remedy to resolve the issues, but he refused.”

Chris Toms, for Johnstone, said the defendant had not objected when told about the application because he did not want a confrontation and had not expected permission to be granted.

“He became annoyed and took this action in revenge,” said Mr Toms. “I don’t think he intended to cause these people that degree of distress. He wanted to cause low level annoyance.”

The lawyer offered the court two character references for Johnstone, including one from a parish councillor. Mr Toms added that the defendant had not played the radio since the police became involved.

Magistrates fined Johnstone, who has no previous convictions, £923, with a £369 surcharge and costs of £85. They also ordered that he pay his neighbours £100 compensation.

They declined to make a restraining order to ban any more loud noise but warned that any repeat of the offence could lead to custody.