In July of 2018, Sharon Tidnam was ordered by court to do what they can to reduce their dogs’ noise at Low Farm in Topcroft, Norfolk, but she was found guilty this year of breaching that order.
She was also ordered to pay her neighbor Matthew McNiff, who complained about her barking dogs, £3,000 in compensation for moving costs.
Inside the court, Tidnam’s defense team questioned the cost of McNiff’s bill, who argued that his costs were high because he employed a “Rolls Royce” team. The judge even backed this up, and said McNiff was entitled to the legal representation he chose.
Now, Tidnam and her husband Russell were asked to pay nearly £100,000, plus pay their own legal bills in a span of just three months. She said that because of McNiff’s complaint about the noise, who actually lived 750m away from their kennels, her family had to spend £130,000 of their pensions.
McNiff said the dogs disturbed their community’s peace and quiet, including the early hours in the morning.
South Norfolk Council took some recordings as part of the court case, but did not find any evidence of noise nuisance.
“All the readings and everything were on our side,” Tidnam said.
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