Neighbour rivalry lands 'abusive' man in court

Thursday 19 September 2019

A "longstanding" rivalry with a neighbour has led to a man being handed community service for revving his motorbike, shouting abuse and threatening to urinate on a property after being accused of spilling paint.

Luc Jacques Malick Brachet (57) appeared in the Magistrate’s Court to be sentenced for two charges of "using words which are threatening or abusive within the sight or hearing of another person" and one of resisting arrest following a heated disagreement with a neighbour one afternoon in July.

Legal Adviser Lauren Hallam explained that this was the latest development within “a longstanding tension" between the pair, and that it wasn't the first time that Brachet had ended up in Court as a result.

In 2016, he was convicted of an affray in relation to this same neighbour where he “brandished weapons” and received a 180-hour community service order.

Pictured: The case was heard in the Magistrate's Court.

This current offending took place on 23 July this year when Brachet started “revving his motorcycle and shouting verbal abuse” at the neighbour – some of which she recorded on her phone.

The Court was told that the recording captured the defendant calling his neighbour names and accusing her of not being able to look after her own children – one of whom was in the house at the time.

He also threatened to “p*ss” on her door and told her to, “F*** off and die, b***h.” He then left the estate.

The neighbour called the Police, but, before officers could locate him, she made a further call later that evening to inform them that he was walking back into the estate.

The neighbour was trying to get her child into a car when Brachet began shouting abuse at her again and her partner – all within earshot of the child, who reportedly "looked petrified".

Pictured: The Court heard that the child "looked petrified."

When Police Officers went to Brachet’s address to discuss the incident with him, he “refused to discuss the issue calmly”, and then he proceeded to resist arrest, causing officers to take him to the floor and deploy pepper spray.

Representing Brachet, Advocate Estelle Burns explained that the incident had in fact started in the morning as the neighbour had approached him and accused him of spilling some paint on her garage door. This, she said, prompted her clients anger in the afternoon.

Advocate Burns said that “this matter has been going on for several years” and the neighbours have been locked in a “longstanding dispute.” However, she said that the day after this incident Brachet and his wife put their house on the market and “will not be returning to the address.”

Branding it a “drastic but necessary move”, the defence lawyer stated it would finally put an end to the rivalry.

“Mr Brachet fully accepts that he was out of order and that he went beyond what is acceptable… He should have just walked away.”

She added that her client “realises that things really have got out of hand” and that there is “no way of reconciliation” between the two parties.

Pictured: Brachet and his wife have moved due to the "tension" between them and their neighbours.

She also explained that Brachet was “unaware” that his neighbour’s child was in earshot when he was shouting and that he “would not have said such things if he’d known that a young person was in the hearing of them.”

Offering Brachet’s apologies to the Court, Advocate Burns invited the Magistrate to impose a community service order as punishment for these offences.

Magistrate Bridget Shaw – who also sentenced Brachet the last time he appeared in Court – ultimately agreed with the recommendation of his defence lawyer.

“I take into account that there has been a long history here with your neighbours… I understand that small things have a background.”

However, the Magistrate warned Brachet: “You let your anger get the better of you and you said some really dreadful things that really you shouldn’t say to anyone.”

She subsequently sentenced him to 70 hours’ community service.