A 'Bad Neighbour' In BC Has To Pay $16k For Burping, Farting & Jackhammering
Love thy neighbour? Not for these two homeowners in Campbell River, B.C. A long-term conflict between Reno Pellegrin and couple John and Sherri Wheeldon led to a court hearing on Friday, July 31. As per B.C. neighbour law, Pellegrin was ordered to pay over $16,000 for his actions, some of which included farting, belching, and causing damage to a separating wall between the homes.
According to the court document, things hadn't always been so bad between the two neighbours.
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Things started turning sour when the Wheeldon's build a sports court in their yard.
They also set up a concrete wall between the two properties without realizing that a section of the wall had ended up in Pellegrin's property.
The situation escalated in 2014 when Pellegrin reportedly dumped 10 kilograms of dog feces on the property line. "Mr. Pellegrin believed the dog feces was on his side of the line, but, in fact, it was not."
The feces were supposed to be a warning to the Wheeldon's about staying on their side of the wall, said Pellegrin. His qualm was that the Wheeldon's frequently came over to his side for yard work.
The Wheeldon's tried to build a fence on the southern end of the property but Pellegrin apparently took out the lines and stakes.
Pellegrin was then accused of making lewd gestures in front of Mrs. Wheeldon.
"Mrs. Wheeldon testified that Mr. Pellegrin will also grab his crotch, put his hand into the crack of his buttocks, and belch and fart as he passes her when she is outside on her property," read the document.
Their argument over the wall continued and Pellegrin wanted his neighbours to remove the wall.
He also accused the Wheeldons of trespassing on his property many times. On December 15, 2015, Pellegrin started up his jackhammer in his efforts to take down the wall.
A friend testified that "Mr. Pellegrin jackhammered right in their faces," and apparently laughed like Santa Clause while he did it, saying “Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas.”
After hearing the details of the fact, judge Catherine Crockett ruled in the Wheeldon's favour and ordered Pellegrin to pay $16,801.00 in total.
"People need to be discouraged from similar “bad neighbour” type behaviour," said the judge.
Whereas the Wheeldon's have been ordered to pay $2 in total for walking into Pellegrin's property on various dates and for "ongoing trespass of the retaining wall."
Neighbourly strife may be commonplace but it seems like this bad neighbour in B.C. went above and beyond.
The article's cover photo was used for illustrative purposes only.