A "NEIGHBOUR from hell" is behind bars after he intimidated a GP because he wouldn't give into his demand for sleeping tablets.

On Thursday, Stephen Greenhalgh was jailed for 12 weeks for the incident that took place on April 20 after admitting common assault.

Mr Lee Dacre, prosecuting, said: "There was no physical contact in this matter. It was about 9am when he attended an appointment at Burnett Edgar Medical Centre, Walney. He asked who he was seeing and was told it was Dr Muhammad Amin and he became agitated as it wasn't his usual doctor.

"He asked the doctor for sleeping tablets and he said no because he didn't think it would be effective treatment. The defendant became aggressive and was clenching his fists. he said he couldn't sleep and if he didn't get them he would smash up the doctor's Porsche. He repeated this several times. He said he would smash it up. The doctor ran into the reception area and asked for the police to be called. He denied making the threats to police but knew the car was a Carrera."

Mr Dacre said that lately Greenhalgh, 55, of Thames Road, Walney, had been convicted of harassing a neighbour Jason Spencer and was under a restraining order and played music excessively loud in the rarely hours of the morning, waking neighbours. He was also guilty of assaulting another neighbour Jacqueline Storey.

He added: "She had a dog which he claims is his. She had to go through the civil courts to get an injunction against him to keep him away. He ignored it and spat at her and it landed in her hair. This lady is undergoing cancer treatment and it was a wig and caused massive humiliation to her."

Miss Karen Templeton, defending, said: "I'm not going to say very much as he was sentenced to 26 weeks in custody on Monday after trial.

"There was no physical assault but the victim anticipated violence."

Former victim of Greenhalgh, Jason Spencer, 46, said: "It was just a nightmare. It feels great to have the peace and quiet now, absolutely brilliant".

Other resident in the area, who wished not to be named, said: "It was a bit like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He would be really polite, then the next minute it would be loud music, slamming the door and shouting.

"It (the music) would just get worse and worse and the music got louder. The biggest thing was the loud music."

Magistrates jailed him for 12 weeks. He was told to pay £115 victim surcharge.