Harassment Via Fart Machine

Status: Evil prankster
I've had obnoxious, noisy neighbors who have made me fantasize about using all kinds of noise-making devices in retaliation. (Instead I sent a letter to their landlord, and a month later they were gone.) But this guy, Brian Pemberton, took the harassment of his neighbor to an entirely new level:
victim Kathyrn McKay became a virtual prisoner in her own home in Baildon after Pemberton monitored her movements with a security system and triggered a "farting machine" to make loud noises every time she went out. He would press his naked backside against a window and expose himself to her and her young daughter while his laughing wife pointed. The father-of-two, who knew Mrs McKay had an eating disorder, would also make vomiting noises with the practical joke machine that she could hear inside her home...
Pemberton would shout out of the window that Mrs McKay was fat and ugly, and also taped offensive notices to the windows of his house and caravan including one that said: "Are you fat? Try Weight Watchers." She was also kept awake by loud banging on her bedroom walls at all hours of the day and night, which Pemberton claimed was made by his disabled daughter when she needed help in the night. Pemberton also terrorised Mrs McKay's daughter and on one occasion drove his car at her while she was on her bike. He doused fireworks in their garden with a hose as they tried to celebrate Bonfire Night. He was also accused of taping her phone calls and shouting out their personal information in the street.
It doesn't sound like his neighbor ever did anything to inspire this behavior from him. He simply took an irrational dislike to her. He was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison, which he has successfully appealed. He's also promised to move. I would hate to be his new neighbor.

Pranks

Posted on Wed Jun 28, 2006


Comments

Me thinks being sentenced to get psychiatric treatment would suit in this case...
Posted by LaMa  on  Wed Jun 28, 2006  at  04:30 PM
Prison or a psychiatric ward definately, as long as he doesn't get off scott free. Poor lady, she shouldn't have let it go on for so long. I think it's a rarity that a freak like this was even prosecuted. Usually the victimized neighbor just moves away, then another hapless resident moves into the unassuming hell hole.
Posted by Grain  on  Wed Jun 28, 2006  at  05:09 PM
...dang! And I was selling my house to move into an apartment...
Posted by Christopher  on  Wed Jun 28, 2006  at  07:23 PM
20 weeks? Less than a week ago, here in the US, a man in Smethport, PA was given 3 years and 9 months in prison for less instances of harassment of neighbors than this fine gentleman discussed here. I'm in no position to say such a sentence is excessive, but this nimrod surely deserves more than 20 weeks.

If a neighbor of mine acted this way towards my wife or daughter, I guarantee you I would be the one going to jail, if you get my meaning.
Posted by EJWise  on  Wed Jun 28, 2006  at  09:44 PM
My neighbors call my landlord all the time...They used to be friends when my landlord lived here.

Anywho...every few weeks I'll get a call:
"Maegan, is anyone else living with you?" You mean besides my husband & my child? NO.

"Maegan, are you keeping a horse in the yard?" My sister rode her horse to the house today. She "kept" it in the yard for about an hour while she visited.

"Maegan, are you burning your trash?" No.

Somewhere in my landlord's head...she must realize I'm not doing these things...b/c we haven't been kicked out yet, and we've been here for 2 years. I think the neighbor's daughter lived here for a while, and they want her to move back in. But I used to take care of my landlord's sons after school. I doubt we're going to be kicked out b/c of the neighbor.
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Jun 29, 2006  at  08:22 AM
The problem with neighbours is, they're all trying to show that they're more superior than you (at least, over here) in two ways: by supressing you or by showing off. They're all jealous pokeys and show off often, and if you try to one-up them they make a heckuva noise or throw a wrench in your plans.

There's nothing wrong with keeping a horse in your yard provided that the yard's big enough. Maegan, they are probably just jealous because your sister has a horse and they don't.
Posted by RAMChYLD  on  Thu Jun 29, 2006  at  06:04 PM
Considering this woman had an eating disorder, she was probably very obsessed about her image and was probably paranoid. Her neighbor was probably a jerk to her, but it's also quite possible she exaggerated the case greatly.
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Thu Jun 29, 2006  at  09:32 PM
WHAT A DICK !!!

..but Bonfire day? Where do I sign up for that?

I am getting new neighbors in a few months. Stories like this make me tremble.
Posted by googlieeyes  on  Sat Jul 08, 2006  at  03:13 PM
Psychology shows that what the harassing neighbor does is actually shame-dumping. He needs someone on whom to dump his self-hatred, someone convenient -- for example a wife, child or neighbor. The target's only offense is being immediately available. Narcissistic Personality Disorder/Antisocial Personality Disorder can usually be traced back to infancy, when parents didn't soothe and coddle his baby fears and rages. Instead of love and comfort, he got neglect or abuse. Consequently, his growing brain missed developing the hard-wiring to handle anxiety and frustration. That feature of a normal brain is literally missing. Instead, the child learned to wall off the horrible feelings, deny that they exist, and project them onto a scapegoat. That is why the bullying invariably has a childish quality, for example crude name-calling and humiliation. It may be helpful for victims to remember that the neighbor from hell usually has the moral and maturity development of a toddler. "The evil man is the child grown strong."
Posted by Tex Mex  on  Tue Feb 13, 2007  at  08:39 PM
OUTRAGEOUS!!! How dare that nasty neighbor and his wife taunt Mrs. McKay for four and twenty months for who she was!
Posted by Myrtle  on  Fri Feb 23, 2007  at  12:20 PM
There's nothing wrong with keeping a horse in your yard provided that the yard's big enough. Maegan, they are probably just jealous because your sister has a horse and they don't.
Posted by Apartments in Barcelona  on  Thu Dec 31, 2009  at  12:57 AM
I think the neighbor's daughter lived here for a while, and they want her to move back in. But I used to take care of my landlord's sons after school. I doubt we're going to be kicked out b/c of the neighbor.
Posted by pillar drill  on  Sun May 02, 2010  at  05:45 AM
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