Man driven up the wall by noisy neighbour - court

The case was heard by magistrates in Bradford

A woman who "drove her neighbour up the wall" by playing music through the night has been ordered to pay more than £1,700.

Bradford Magistrates' Court heard how Ibolya Tamas's neighbour would have to put up with amplified music being played repeatedly, sometimes until 06:00.

Tamas's actions breached an earlier abatement notice by the council, designed to stop the problem for neighbours in the Undercliffe Lane terraces.

She failed to attend the court hearing but was found guilty and ordered to pay £1,762 in court costs and fines.

Waseem Raja, prosecuting the case on behalf of Bradford Council, said 44-year-old Tamas was handed a noise abatement notice in October 2024.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, it banned her from the "playing of loud amplified music at the said property at such levels as to cause a statutory nuisance at another property that was within the vicinity of your property".

Despite the order, the loud music continued.

'Nuisance'

The court was told that her neighbour had been given an app that could be used to record noise nuisance.

Over several days in February 2025, the app logged music being played at unsociable hours.

Mr Raja said: "This gives you a flavour of the nuisance. It must have been driving her neighbour up the wall.

"It is bad enough to hear music at that time, but we are talking about loud, amplified music."

He said the neighbour's sleep was constantly disrupted by the music, and the issue had impacted almost every aspect of his life.

Referring to the fact that Tamas had not attended court, he said: "She isn't even here today, so we can discuss the issue with her."

The council decided to prosecute Tamas for failing to comply with an abatement notice, and various items capable of playing loud music, including multiple televisions, amplifiers and a keyboard, were seized from the property.

Mr Raja said the case followed a "prolonged investigation" by the local authority, which had cost the taxpayer at least £1,300.

After some deliberation, magistrates fined Tamas £220, ordered her to pay an £88 surcharge and awarded the full £1,354 costs to the council at Wednesday's hearing.

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