Pretty UK village turned into ‘living nightmare’ by neighbour from hell | UK | News
The Rotherhams have endured harassment from neighbors for several years (Image: Solent)
A beautiful village in the UK has been turned into a ‘living nightmare’ for a couple after their neighbors’ harassment campaign from hell.
Corrine and Peter Rotherham have been living in a bungalow in Urchfont, Wiltshire, which they believe is their perfect home, but now they are close to being kicked out due to the torment they receive from the woman next door.
The £675,000 house is located in the award-winning village, which has twice been awarded Best Kept Village.
Ms Rotherham said their neighbor Zoi Hayes “made our lives hell for 14-15 years”, adding: “It was like living with a Peeping Tom who was absolutely obsessed with you.”
Corrine told the Daily Mail that Hayes had cut a hole in the fence between their garden and would spy on them.
He also threw dead moles into his gardens and deliberately rattled trash cans in the early hours to wake them up.
In 2021, a restraining order was issued against Hayes, ordering him not to ‘contact, disturb or disturb’ the couple after they damaged some of their property.
He was given a six-year prison sentence suspended for 12 months after admitting breaching the order in 2023.
Zoi Hayes will be sentenced at a later date (Image: Solent)
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Now the neighbor has admitted breaking the rule again by leaving the lawnmower on to ‘disturb’ the Rotherhams, who were hosting a dinner party with friends.
Prosecutor Christiane Finlay told Salisbury Magistrates’ Court: “The brief facts of the case are that Miss Rotherham had been a neighbor of Miss Hayes for 15 years, with a long-standing history of neighborhood disputes between the parties.
“He had a previous conviction on 23 February 2021 and had a restraining order until 22 February 2026 following damage to property.
“The conditions were not to contact, disturb or disturb Corinne Rotherham or Peter Rotherham.”
He continued: “This is a deliberate violation at best, because while the victim, Miss Rotherham, was having a dinner party with six friends, what she was effectively doing was disturbing the victim by leaving the lawnmower on.
“He hasn’t been able to do this for a number of years but Miss Hayes started the lawnmower and left it there to annoy and annoy him.
“One of the partygoers spoke to him about it and asked him to shut it down, which he did.”
Rotherham has restraining order against neighbors (Image: Rotherhams)
Hayes left the property in January but ‘continues to look for excuses to return’.
The Rotherhams said they had spent thousands of dollars on new fencing panels ‘to keep him out’ but the pensioner insisted on bothering them.
The couple had to stay at the other end of the garden and play music so Hayes wouldn’t overhear.
“It was one thing after another,” Ms Rotherham said.
They held their ‘first meeting in years’ last July. He added: “It was a lovely evening and it was so warm we were able to sit outside. Most of the people there knew him and knew what he was like.”
After half an hour of group talk, Hayes started the lawnmower.
Ms Rotherham said: “I said it was a breach of the restraining order and I was going to call the police because I was so angry.”
Because he didn’t want to get into a dispute, his guests ‘hidden camera around’ to confront Hayes.
“They made me confess that she did this because she knew I was there and wanted to trap me,” he added.
These images helped form part of the case to which Hayes pleaded guilty.
He is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
