Nottingham City Council successfully prosecuted a resident for the second time for noise nuisance at the Nottingham Magistrates Court on 1 October 2008.  

Complaints about loud amplified music were made against Ms Theresa Sharon Francis of 21 Faulconbridge Close, Bulwell.

These allegations were originally investigated by the Noise and Pollution Control Team in 2007 and following observations made by officers, a noise abatement notice was served on Ms Francis on 19 February 2007 and again on 11 May 2007.

On 15 August 2007 Ms Francis pleaded guilty at Nottingham Magistrates Court to two contraventions of the noise abatement notices and was fined a total of £105 with £100 costs.

Further complaints about loud amplified music were made against Ms Francis in November 2007 and the Noise and Pollution Control Team re-investigated the matter.

Council officers witnessed four contraventions of the noise abatement notice in person between March and May 2008.

On 22 May 2008 the Council’s bailiff executed a warrant which was granted by Nottingham Magistrates’ Court. They entered 21 Faulconbridge Close and seized 12 items of electrical equipment from Ms Francis including one large TV, three portable TVs, two HiFis, two DVD players, an Xbox and a Playstation 2.

The Noise and Pollution Control Team prosecuted Ms Francis for the most recent contraventions and she pleaded guilty to all four offences at Nottingham Magistrates Court on 1 October 2008.

She was fined £150 and Nottingham City Council was awarded £150 costs. The Magistrates also made a Forfeiture Order for all but two of the items seized (a Sanyo Television with Buy As You View coin slot and a home free view box). The Magistrates stated that the reason for forfeiting these items of equipment was that they all had potential to make noise and it would prevent any further noise nuisance. The defendant was extremely upset on hearing that the majority of her electrical goods would be forfeited.

Enforcement Officer, Steve Thorpe from the Noise and Pollution Control Team, said: “Nottingham City Council seeks to resolved noise nuisance problems informally, however where persistent problems occur and the perpetrators do not take heed of warnings or comply with legal notices then we will take appropriate enforcement action to deal with the problem.”