Following on from last month’s story of the Pink Floyd obsessive who was jailed for playing Dark Side Of The Moon at extreme volumes at all hours of the morning comes the case of another individual who’s facing prison time over their love of playing music long and loud.
An unidentified 48-year-old man has been effectively evicted from his Yarraville home of more than 30 years after ongoing noise complaints from neighbours saw the man arrested, allegedly in breach of an intervention order, as The Herald Sun reports.
The anonymous man was arrested early on 21st June for playing music at disturbingly high volumes and spent two weeks in custody before being released on bail last week on the condition that he avoid returning to his Yarraville residence and instead move into Fitzroy with a friend. The 48-year-old said he was “not impressed” at being kicked out of his house, saying “there should be more communication between neighbours,” after a recent Supreme Court appearance over his offences.
During the same court hearing, Justice Terry Forrest inquired whether the 48-year-old defendant had been blasting heavy metal, to which he was told that the music ranged from Led Zeppelin to folk rock singer Sandy Denny, “but not ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ or anything like that;” referring not to the Wagner classical composition but the heavy metal festival dedicated to bands with female vocalists.
“It doesn’t sound like it was ‘Stairway To Heaven’,” replied the Supreme Court judge, who suggested it was time the defendant invest in a pair of headphones. The Supreme Court judge suggested it was time the defendant invest in a pair of headphones…
It was revealed that the June offence was made while the unidentified 48-year-old was on bail under the condition that he not play music at loud volumes, the latest offence of what had been 69 visits to the man’s home by police in six months, the court heard. Between April and May, the man was charged with three breaches of the order of playing music at ‘odd’ hours following noise complaints from neighbours – a family who had moved in 13 years ago.
Prosecutor Michelle Zammit described the loud music offences as ‘somewhat trivial’, but that it constituted harassment in the context of the ongoing neighbourhood feud, saying the defendant had been issued with several penalties by council and police over his excessive volumes.
Defence lawyer Louis Richter said playing loud music did not qualify as harassment banned by the order. He emphasised his client’s alcohol-related health problems, noting that he may not have known about the loud music band as he was may not have been sober at the bail hearing.
The eviction of the 48 year-old man from his home of more than three decades until the charges were dealt with, which could take as long as six months, was described by Mr Richter as a far worse punishment than any he already faced.
Mr Richter also described a threat by his client to “kill his neighbours” allegedly made during his arrest as “drunken bluster”. It was this alleged threat that the Supreme Court judge said was the reasoning behind the man’s conviction.
In related news of sonic terrorism, an elderly couple in Stockholm, Sweden recently got in trouble with police after allegedly blasting Iron Maiden at full volume until 4am in retaliation to a loud “whistling sound” coming from their neighbour’s property. Then there was the case of ‘Techno Dave’ who terrorised neighbours with late-night raves and “anti-social behaviour.”
Last year, a 54-year-old woman from New Hampshire utilised similar rock n’ roll tactics, arrested four times in 26 hours after repeatedly blasting AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ at an ear-popping volume from her home. News that followed another Acca Dacca diehard, who created a computer virus that infected nuclear facilities in Iran which would blast ‘Thunderstruck’ at maximum volume between shutting down their operating systems.
