Man denies killing neighbour’s fish with detergent in dispute over pond noise

It is alleged he threw motor oil from his window into the garden pond of his next-door neighbour

A man has denied throwing detergent into his neighbour’s pond, leaving three carp dead, in a dispute about noise, a court has heard. It is alleged Gerry Duffy also threw motor oil from his window into the garden pond of his next-door neighbour Andrea Ptohides, in the first of three incidents in Hadley Road, Barnet, north London, last month.

Willesden Magistrates’ Court heard Duffy had been to his neighbour’s house complaining of noise caused by the pond in the garden, which shares a fence with Duffy’s house.

Prosecutors said Duffy, 76, had told his neighbour the noise from the pond was causing him to lose sleep, and he had previously “threatened to take matters into his own hands” if the complainant did not do anything about it.

White-haired Duffy spoke only to confirm his personal details and to deny the four charges against him in court on Tuesday.

In the first alleged incident, on March 20, Duffy is accused of damaging the pond by throwing motor oil into it. The court heard four days later the complainant found that water pipes supplying the pond had been cut.

Prosecutors say Mr Ptohides reviewed CCTV footage from his garden and saw Duffy climbing the fence into his garden that day. On March 26, the alleged victim found three of his carp dead in the pond and he believes detergent was poured into it.

The court heard Mr Ptohides said he saw on CCTV footage that the defendant had climbed the fence into the garden between 2.32am and 3.08am that morning.

Duffy denies three counts of damaging property and one count of unlawfully destroying fish.

He was given conditional bail and will face trial at the same court on August 4.