Couple successfully sue council over school's footballs landing in garden of £2m home
Many a child has experienced the anxiety of knocking on a frustrated neighbour's door to ask for their ball back.
But one couple in Hampshire have become so exasperated by the seemingly endless stream of footballs landing in the garden of their £2m home from a nearby school they have successfully sued the county council.
The high court, sitting in Southampton, ruled that repeatedly kicking footballs over a neighbour's fence and into their garden does constitute a nuisance.
While occasional stray balls might be annoying, the frequent projection of them on to someone else's property breaches common law, a judge has said.
However, the judge also ruled that the couple had lost perspective and refused to prohibit use of the football pitch.
Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty made a complaint about the footballs landing at a rate of one every other day into their Winchester garden from the nearby Westgate school.
The Bakhatys said the balls and noise from an all-weather play area meant they could no longer use their swimming pool and were forced to cancel their annual summer party because of the 'nuisance'.
Marie-Anne, 66, a company director, and Mohamed, 77, a property developer, took the matter to a high court judge, seeking an injunction prohibiting the use of the £36,000 play area in Winchester.
Mr Justice Glen ruled that the footballs were creating a nuisance for the couple and that there was a period when a significant number were landing in their garden.
However, while he awarded them £1,000 in damages, he said the Bakhatys had lost perspective and become over-invested in their belief that they were 'victims of a wrong'.
The court heard that in 2021, money was raised to transform a grass playground into an all-weather play area.
Soon after it opened, the couple complained about the noise and footballs entering their garden.
The couple sought legal advice and a letter was sent in 2022 to the school over the matter. Mitigations were then made, including the installation of a net over the top of the pitch to prevent balls going astray, which reduced the number of balls.
Despite this, the couple issued a high court claim against Hampshire county council in October of 2022, alleging that the noise and escape of footballs amounted to a 'common law nuisance'.
They claimed that the council had infringed their rights under article 8 and article 1 of the European convention on human rights.
Mrs Bakhaty estimated that 170 balls dropped into their garden over an 11-month period. The judge said when he made a visit to the house, about 20 footballs lined the flower beds of the Bakhatys' garden.
Lawyers representing the council argued the all-weather pitch was a valuable facility for the school and wider community.
The judge agreed that the issue had been significantly reduced since the introduction of the mitigation measures, which also included restricting the use of the pitch to the school day until 4.15pm.
Glen said it would not be appropriate to grant an injunction but ordered the council to pay the couple £1,000 in damages for the period in which there was 'excessive use' of the play area and when significant numbers of balls were crossing the boundary fence.
He added: 'I fear, however, that they have become sensitised by the noise from the school in a way which has caused them to become over-invested in their belief that they are victims of a wrong. In short, they have lost perspective.'
The couple declined to comment on the case. Hampshire county council has been approached for comment.
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