Nightmare neighbour jailed for blasting out Country music at all hours

Updated
Michael O'Rourke
Michael O'Rourke



Nightmare neighbour Michael O'Rourke, a 56-year-old from Peterhead, has been jailed for four months, after refusing to stop playing Country and Western music day and night. He played it so loud that his neighbours could hear it at the other end of the street.

According to the Daily Mail, the partially deaf O'Rourke had been in court before. In 2009 he was given an ASBO for his love of playing artists like Dolly Parton loudly enough to wake his neighbours in the middle of the night. Then in 2014 he had his stereo seized by a sheriff in an effort to get him to change his ways - which he got around by playing CDs instead of vinyl.

The Daily Record said that this time he was jailed after breaching his ASBO, and sentenced to four months - backdated to January 8th. He was also charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. He will be back in court in three months, as a further seven charges against him have had sentencing deferred for good behaviour.
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Too Loud

He's not the first person to end up in jail for failing to keep noise under control. In 2005 a woman in Glasgow was sent to prison for 40 days, after breaching an ASBO for playing music too loud.

In 2012 a woman in Epping was arrested four times in 26 hours for playing music too loudly, and eventually jailed. It appeared that AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' was a particular favourite.

And in 2013 a man in Northolt was jailed for a year for breaching an ASBO that prevented him from having more than three people in his house, and making too much noise. The 20-year-old had continued to play loud music and cause disturbances in the neighbourhood - even after numerous court appearances and having his stereo, speakers and TV confiscated.

But perhaps the strangest incident was in July last year, when a woman in Small Heath in Birmingham was jailed for two weeks. She had been given an ASBO after annoying neighbours by making too much noise while in bed with her boyfriend. She breached the ASBO by continuing to make just as much noise in bed, arguing loudly, and crashing around the house - so she was jailed.

Neighbours Complain About Robin Thicke's Noisy Party
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