A father has been dragged in front of court for trespassing after storming into a neighbour’s garden after his son’s football was confiscated.
Chaim Adler, 35, of Golders Green, North London is facing a bill of almost £20,000 after being sued.
Adler was left furious after his neighbour, Warren Bergson did not give back a ball his son had kicked over the fence, storming into their garden “snarling” at and mocking him.
The next day he tried to push his way into their flat while demanding the ball back “aggressively”.
The incident stemmed over a conflict over a football being kicked over a fence (file pic)
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Bergson and his psychologist wife Dr Edel McAndrew-Bergson, 58, then sued, claiming trespass and harassment which saw a judge award £19,800 in damages.
Mayors and City County Court heard how Adler’s parents, Zavy, 73, and Esther Adler, 69, had lived in their home in Golders Green for 40 years, bringing up their kids there. But trouble brewed after Dr McAndrew-Bergson and her barrister husband, who died after the court trial, moved to London and rented a small one-bedroom garden flat next door.
They said a football was ‘crashed’ repeatedly against the fence separating the gardens every weekend as a means of ‘intimidating’ them, and they had resorted to taking British Library memberships so they had somewhere peaceful to go
The Bergsons said the trouble peaked in two confrontations with Chaim Adler, a frequent visitor to his parent’s home, over a long weekend in May 2018. Adler children’s football was at the centre of the row, with the Bergsons becoming exasperated at the constant noise of it being kicked against the fence.
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The family appeared before Mayors and City County Court
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On the first occasion, they claimed was “snarling” and mocking Bergson, but on the second had attempted to push his way into their flat while demanding the ball back “aggressively”.
Chaim Adler denied doing anything wrong, saying that he was only a father protecting his son, who had been shouted at and reduced to tears when he asked for his ball back.
Judge Stephen Hellman said: “Chaim Adler’s behaviour was aggressive, humiliating and intimidating. This behaviour goes beyond that which merely causes upset.
“[Adler] was angry because they had twice reduced his eight-year-old son to tears. The depth of his anger came across very clearly when he was giving evidence. I accept he was angry because they had upset his son, but he has not shown me that his course of conduct was reasonable and I am satisfied that it was not.”
Following a trial and judgment in 2022, the case went back to court again last week for Judge Hellman to rule on the amount of damages due to the Bergsons.
He ordered Adler to pay £8,800 compensation to Dr Bergson and another £11,000 to her husband’s estate, following his death after the initial trial.
He also ordered Adler’s parents to pay £1,700 compensation to reflect interference with the Bergsons’ right of way over a passage leading to their flat, which had been frequently obstructed by building materials.
The case will come back to court again at a later date for a decision on who pays the lawyers’ bills for the dispute.
Source Agencies
