The majority of us have them – neighbours, that is.
Some of us are very lucky in that we can live alongside our neighbours quite peacefully and some actually enjoy great relationships where they take each other’s bins out, cut the grass, take in parcels and so on.
Some maybe even join in with the summer BBQ and turn a deaf ear to the odd time the music gets a bit loud or the family argument gets a bit heated with raised voices.
But not everyone is fortunate enough to get along with their neighbours and their antics can put your patience to the test.
Nightmare neighbours really can raise the blood pressure with tempers fraying for a myriad of reasons from the ridiculous – their hedge is too tall – to the outright dangerous, terrifying threats and violence.
I once lived in a flat where a guy brandishing a sword stood at my front door screaming blue murder at my partner – until he realised he had the wrong house.
It wasn’t fun, I can tell you that much.
But other than that, I count my lucky stars I’ve never had neighbours who think 7am on a Sunday morning is a great time to get the lawnmower out!
A relative is currently embroiled in a tussle over noise that has turned ugly.
The relative, in his 70s, has been threatened with physical violence by his much younger and much fitter neighbour and now wants to leave the home he has lived in for almost 40 years.
Despite the intervention of police and council noise officers the disagreements continue and the feud is reaching boiling point.
This week we’ve had two particularly extreme examples of when neighbourly disputes turn bad.
An OAP was left lying in a pool of blood when he was assaulted by his neighbour.
Frail 82-year-old Frederick McKibbin was pushed by Daniel O’Donnell outside his Glasgow home, which caused him to fall over and suffer a head injury.
The feuding pensioners fell out over a parking space.
Then police dropped the bombshell news that one of Scotland’s most infamous unsolved murders could be linked to – a row over decking!
Alistair Wilson was shot dead on his own doorstep in Nairn in 2004 by a mystery gunman.
For years, theories and possible motives have been bandied around and have included everything from organised criminals to financial motives linked to his work at a bank.
But 18 years later, while carrying out a homicide review – otherwise known as a cold case investigation, to you and me – detectives have said Alistair, 30, objected to planning permission for a large decking area outside a nearby hotel and it could be significant to their inquiries.
In police-speak, that means they are focusing on the people involved in that scenario.
I can’t say I was surprised that such a minor issue could be the reason Alistair was killed. I’ve covered cases where people have been murdered for absolutely no reason at all.
Peaceful afternoons in the garden can turn deadly when the sun is shining and alcohol is flowing.
Add into the mix the noisy hot tub, rowdy kids, barking dogs, BBQ smoke and drilling and chain-sawing. Flashpoints all round.
It is luck of the draw with your neighbours. All any of us can do is be polite and hope those next door are pleasant.
We can’t always see eye to eye with those around us and it’s no surprise situations can get heated very quickly.
Arguments can fester and do lasting damage, especially if violence or threats are involved.
Love thy neighbour? Not when it turns violent, that’s for sure.
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