Noisy neighbour row ends in court case

Danielle Reid also called another resident a “touting PSNI b******” and warned her windows would be put in after police were called to reports of her shouting in the street.

In one of three separate incidents officers looking for the 36-year-old defendant discovered her under a bed.

Reid, of Ballyeaston Road in Ballyclare, was convicted of common assault, disorderly behaviour and threats to damage property.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard she was verbally abusive on September 2, 2018 when a next door neighbour banged the walls in a bid to get her to be quiet. Prosecutors said Reid grabbed the other woman by the hair, trailing her to the ground.

Officers seeking the defendant for separate matters returned to the address on December 20, 2019. Reid was located under a bed upstairs and taken outside, where she started shouting in the street.

“When a neighbour asked her to be quiet she said ‘I’m going to do you in’ and swore at her,” a Crown lawyer submitted.

The court was told Reid targeted another neighbour after police were called to another domestic incident on June 26 last year.

“She was shouting all over the street ‘you touting PSNI b******, your windows won’t be there in the morning’,” the prosecutor added.

Defence counsel Lara Smyth accepted: “These are unsavoury matters.”

But setting out her client’s alcohol and mental health issues, the barrister stressed she has already served 18 weeks in custody on remand.

Based on recommendations in a pre-sentence report, District Judge Peter Prenter imposed two years probation.

He warned Reid: “If this doesn’t work... the likelihood will be imprisonment.”