A man who made his neighbours’ lives a “misery” by blaring James Blunt songs into the night has been handed a £1,400 fine. The loud music Mark Carey played at his Plymouth home disrupted the sleep of those living near him, causing them stress, fatigue and anxiety, a court heard.

Plymouth Magistrates’ Court was also told how neighbours of the property in the Ham area of the city received abuse from Carey when they challenged him about the noise.

After several complaints to the council, Carey was given a community protection notice in October 2020, having ignored three previous letters warning him about his noise levels. The notice stated that he “must not cause or act in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress” to any person by way of causing noise, which included the playing of music.

Despite this, the noise continued on three occasions between 25 July and 4 August 2021. Carey’s neighbours made audio recordings of the music being played at “unacceptable levels” into the night.

When environmental health officers reviewed the recordings, the lyrics to ‘Timber’ by Pitbull ft Ke$ha were clearly audible – and Carey was issued with a fixed penalty notice for £100. He failed to pay the £100, and the noise continued on four more occasions up to 4 September 2021.

This time, audio recordings featured ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay, while Blunt’s 2004 mega-hit ‘You’re Beautiful’ was identifiable on multiple occasions.

As a result, environmental health officers obtained a warrant and seized three TVs, speakers and other music equipment from Carey’s house.

Carey was not present in court on Monday when magistrates found him guilty of breaching a community protection notice.

He was fined £660 and ordered to pay costs of £699.70 and a £66 victim surcharge.

The magistrates also ordered the permanent forfeiture of the previously seized equipment.

Councillor John Riley, cabinet member for community safety at Plymouth City Council, said: “Everyone has the right to live quietly in their own home, which is why we will not hesitate to bring prosecutions against people who try and take that right away from their neighbours.

“I hope now that the defendant’s neighbours will finally have some peace.”

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