Neighbour trespass and damage?

[UnclePhilip]

A friend rang me in some distress. Appears his neighbours have been naughty. They have entered his garden over the boundary, cut down a couple of trees, branches and shrubs, left them lying; appears to be to get more light/view

Not the usual case of abating private nuisance of overhanging branches. My thoughts turn to trespass and criminal damage

I talked about need to maintain relations, he said they're not otherwise anti-social yobs, retired folk otherwise peaceable

Any thoughts on legal position here, please? He feels encroached on and worried, also worried in case they feel emboldened to do more

Solicitor's letter? Warn of enforcement re damages, injunction? Criminal damage even?

Uncle

[redsturgeon]

A friend rang me in some distress. Appears his neighbours have been naughty. They have entered his garden over the boundary, cut down a couple of trees, branches and shrubs, left them lying; appears to be to get more light/view

Not the usual case of abating private nuisance of overhanging branches. My thoughts turn to trespass and criminal damage

I talked about need to maintain relations, he said they're not otherwise anti-social yobs, retired folk otherwise peaceable

Any thoughts on legal position here, please? He feels encroached on and worried, also worried in case they feel emboldened to do more

Solicitor's letter? Warn of enforcement re damages, injunction? Criminal damage even?

Uncle

Does he have strong evidence that it was them?

Did he see them? Does he have camera footage?

John

[quelquod]

If no evidence as to the perpetrator I'd say it's not unreasonable to contact the police, especially if there's a fear of the nuisance ongoing.

If neighbourly relations are less important he could try knocking on their door, explaining the damage he has found and his concerns and see where things go.

[staffordian]

If your friend didn't actually see the neighbours doing the deed (and presumably if they had seen it they would have gone out and spoken to them...) then one approach would be to go round to the neighbours and say that someone had been into their garden and vandalised some plants. Simply ask them if they had seen anyone or anything suspicious. Say that they are about to report it to the police but wondered if they had seen anything which would help give the police anything to go on before they report it.

The response might then inform the decision as to what to do next.

Staffordian

Edit: On reading the post above through, I see an approach similar to this has just been suggested, but I think the innocent suggestion of reporting the incident to the police might just illicit some response, hopefully an admission and an apology...

[UnclePhilip]

Thanks for replies. I was very brief, so just to clarify:

1) There is no disagreement, they did the deed

2) Apparently having some time ago having been given informal consent to trim a hedge, they have now gone much further, as posted

I'm aware of issues such as neighbour relations etc

However, it is the legal position I'm after, and what enforcement, offences, etc present themselves

Uncle

[redsturgeon]

The reason for my extra questions was that in order to get some sort of sensible answer then a little more information was required...some of which has been forthcoming and some additional highly salient infotmation offered.

So it now appears that they had been given permission to trim some plants and have gone further than was agreed. In this informal agreement was it agreed that to do the work they would indeed have to come onto your friend's property?

It would seem from what you have said so far that permission was verbally granted to do "some trimming". That is not in dispute.

What is in dispute is how much trimming has been done. It is therefore the extent of the extra trimming which is the important issue. You say "a couple of trees, branches and shrubs". How much more than what was agreed is this? Are we talking large trees (I guess not). Branches? Wasn't it agreed that branches would be trimmed. Shrubs? Were they discussed in the informal chat?.

The fact that they were left lying is actually in accordance with the law and will prevent them being accused of theft.

What does your friend want to happen? I would think that recourse to the law in this matter would be over the top and not likely to be very viable financially. It think it would be difficult to prove that laws had been broken since it will be your friend's word against theirs as to what had been agreed so the police would likely not be at all interested.

Has your friend actually spoken to the neighbours since the incident...it may be completely a case of misunderstanding and they will agree to make things right.

John

[quelquod]

Thanks for replies. I was very brief, so just to clarify:
2) Apparently having some time ago having been given informal consent to trim a hedge, they have now gone much further, as posted

I think this might prevent any further useful action though - it seems that there was a simple misunderstanding (?) as to the extent and frequency of the "trimming" intended or at least that seems like a sound defence against a complaint.

Perhaps water under the bridge now and what happens next depends on your friend's powers of diplomacy and how well they all get on. I'd have no hesitation in letting the neighbours know that they've overstepped the mark and asking what they intend to do to restore my garden as best as possible.