A MAN accused a neighbour of killing his bird and made him too frightened to leave his house, a court heard.


Stephen Greenhalgh Stephen Greenhalgh left Jason Spencer feeling "unsettled and intimidated", Furness Magistrates' Court was told.

Greenhalgh, 55, of Thames Road, Walney, pleaded guilty on Thursday to harassing Mr Spencer, who feared violence would be used against him.

Mr John Appleby, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Spencer and Greenhalgh had been acquaintances before the incident.

He said: "Mr Spencer said that on November 13 at around 4pm he could hear someone shouting outside his flat.

"When he looked outside he saw the defendant standing in a wide fighting stance, pointing and shouting at him.

"He was shouting 'You killed my bird, just you wait'.

"Mr Spencer said he sounded very aggressive and was at a loss about what he was shouting about. He simply closed the window."

The court heard the incident had left Mr Spencer feeling "unsettled and intimidated".

The next day Mr Spencer was at home when Greenhalgh put mud through his letter box and smeared it on his front door.

Mr Appleby said: "Later that night Mr Spencer decided to call Mr Greenhalgh to find out what was wrong.

"Mr Greenhalgh said to him, 'Come over to my flat or I am going to come over to yours with a hammer.' He also said he was going to wait for him to come out of his flat so he could 'get him'."

Mr Appleby explained that this left Mr Spencer feeling scared and unable to leave his flat.

Police were called and when they arrived they witnessed the defendant shouting abuse outside Mr Spencer's flat.

When speaking to police, Mr Spencer said: "I was scared he would assault me, this has left me not being able to leave my flat for the past week. I have been scared about what he would do next."

When interviewed by police Greenhalgh said that he believed Mr Spencer had spiked his cannabis with plant food.

Ms Karen Templeton, defending, told the court mental health issues were behind this behaviour.

She said: "Thirty years ago he had a kestrel and he used to work away. When he came back it was dead - someone had shot it.

"Mr Greenhalgh believed that Mr Spencer had been spiking him with plant food. He also had some information that the person who had shot his kestrel 30 years ago was Mr Spencer.

"Some of this is rather bizarre but the crucial thing is that nothing actually happened.

"He has explained that he has stopped using cannabis and is getting help from Unity. Since this incident he has kept well away from Mr Spencer."

The court also heard that shortly after the incident Greenhalgh saw the Crisis team and was admitted to Dane Garth for a few weeks.

Presiding magistrate Catherine Alexander gave Greenhalgh a community order for six weeks with a curfew.

He was also ordered to pay £100 compensation, £85 court costs and a £60 victim surcharge.