Shocking moment dad hurls roof tiles at neighbours leaving one in tears ‘in bid to systematically destroy their home’
THIS is the shocking moment a dad hurled roof tiles at his neighbours in a bid to “systematically destroy” their homes, a court heard.
After smashing a hole through the roof of the semi-detached homes, Mark Coates, can be seen climbing out and then ripping off the tiles, hurling them to the ground.
His terrified neighbour Janice Turner, 66, looked on in tears as she watched the destruction of her property unfold.
After she felt a tile fly past her face she called the police and, after a stand-off lasting more than two hours, Coates was eventually arrested, a court was told.
The alleged incident on June 10 in Robertsbridge, near Hastings this year brought an end to the seven-year neighbour dispute over their shared boundary which began when a fence panel fell down.
Lewes Crown Court heard how Coates, 57, barricaded himself in and began “systematically destroying” the house to reduce its value.
The court heard that, after years of litigation, the case had eventually gone to the High Court where a judge had ruled against Coates.
As a result, the property was due to be sold in order to reimburse Miss Turner and Mr Greenwood’s legal fees, damage costs and compensation for the harassment they suffered.
But just three days before he was due to hand over the house keys, Coates decided to cause massive damage to the three-bedroom property, the jury heard.
The video, captured from a police body-worn camera, shows officers trying to reason with Coates and coax him down from the roof.
The court heard how Coates told them: “I’ve had this house stolen off me by a judge and corrupt police. I’ll cause as much damage as I can to devalue the house.”
Although not captured on video, Coates then clambered across the roof and began smashing tiles from neighbours’ adjoining home, throwing them down into their garden.
Miss Turner said: “There were a variety of loud noises coming from inside his house, banging and clattering.
“I went up the garden and Mr Coates was inside and he was smashing a hole from the inside of his attic space and he was cutting the batons and knocking the tiles off the roof.
“He was picking some of them up and throwing them into the garden and towards me. I was standing by my greenhouse I felt debris from the roof go past my face.”
When the hole was big enough to climb through Coates clambered out onto the roof, she said.
Miss Turner added: “He continued to remove everything from that roof and then breached the party wall area and completely removed the best part of the roof at the rear of my property.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was extremely distressed and I was very scared and I was crying. I felt very, very frightened.
“He was systematically and vindictively destroying the property. He cut a hole through the joists. He took the staircase out of his house. His aim was to destroy and diminish its value. It was calculating and spiteful.”
Mr Greenwood told the jury: “Tiles were being thrown everywhere, chimney pots were being smashed off. I was quite shocked. I’ve never seen someone destroying a house that way before. The whole situation was completely out of hand. It was just total, total destruction.”
In the video, shown to the court , Coates told officers his aim was to cause as much damage as possible.
He said he wanted charges to be so serious he would get a trial by jury where he would be able to expose officials who had used “corruption and bias” to strip him of his home.
Coates was eventually arrested and charged with two counts of harassment and two counts of criminal damage. He denies all charges.
Janice Turner, 66, and her partner, David Greenwood, 70, claim they were left living in fear of violence after the long-running dispute with Mark Coates.
Earlier Coates was accused of repeatedly swearing at the couple when they were in the garden, throwing stones at their bedroom window and at their car, leaving them feeling intimidated.
The court heard Coates drove his VW van to the garage where Mr Greenwood worked as a mechanic.
As he was carrying out diagnostics on a car outside the garage, Coates drove straight at him.
Rio Pahlavanpour, prosecuting said Mr Greenwood had to move “briskly” to avoid being hit by the accelerating van.
Later the couple were walking to their car when Coates came out into his garden and threatened to cut their throats, the jury heard.
Miss Turner told the jury: “David went through the gate and he came back and he said: ‘He’s just threatened to slit my throat’ and I said: ‘I know I heard him.’
“I heard him say: ‘I’ll slit your throat’. It was directed at both of us. I was worried because I believed that at the time he was bail for something and wasn’t supposed to contact to us.”
On a second occasion Mr Greenwood was walking down towards his greenhouse when Coates again swore at him and said: “You’re taking the f***ing p*ss.”
The case continues.