A man had to pay more than £200 to get his car cleaned after his neighbour poured vegetable oil it during a long-running argument. Tony Glaister and his victim had been feuding for month before things boiled over in November last year.
A court heard that Glaister, 51, threw the contents of a bottle of water containing vegetable oil over the man's car. It cost £210 to be professionally cleaned.
Glaister, who hasn't been in trouble since 2008, found himself in the dock at Newcastle Magistrates' Court this week to face an allegation of criminal damage, which he pleaded guilty to. Prosecutor, Rob Lawson, said the offence happened on November 25 last year on School Row, in Prudhoe, reports ChronicleLive.
Mr Lawson continued: "Some sort of oil substance was splashed over the complainant's vehicle. A statement from the complainant says 'I took the vehicle to a repair shop and it was machine polished to remove the substance, which cost £210'.
Adrian Ions, mitigating, said Glaister had been at his "wits' end" following a long-running feud with the victim and offered his apologies to him and the court. Mr Ions added: "He thought it would cause a mild inconvenience to the witness and he would just have to get a rag and wipe it off."
Ordering Glaister to pay £100 compensation to the victim, District Judge Paul Currer said: "In my experience, disputes between neighbours can be troubling and cause no amount of upset between parties and it tends to take over lives and becomes an obsession.
"I'm sure that's what led to you to behave in the way you did. It was out of character. It was an exceptionally silly thing to do."
