Noise offence was retaliation

Bob Kelly, 75, pleaded guilty in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Tuesday to contravening a noise abatement order.

Kelly first came to the attention of police on July 12, when officers received a noise complaint about his George Street house.

The officers, who could clearly hear amplified music playing inside the house, issued Kelly with a 96-hour noise abatement order.

The situation escalated in the coming days, when police were again called to the house about another noise complaint.

They discovered Kelly had left a stereo sitting on two plastic buckets on his driveway, playing music at full volume directed at his neighbour's house.

He also directed an air-compressor at the house.

Kelly said a loud air-conditioning unit outside his bedroom had disrupted his sleep.

He said he complained to Redland City Council about the issue, initially to no avail.

It was only after Kelly was charged that the council ordered the removal of the air-conditioner for creating excessive levels of noise.

"I've lived in the house 17 years and these are the first tenants who have used the air-conditioner at all," he said.

"The night I broke the law I'd taken blankets and gone down to the local park, and it finished up that I had to live in a downstairs bedroom until the whole thing was over."

Kelly's solicitor, Jamie Earle, asked that no conviction be recorded against Kelly's name, given his age and lack of criminal history.

The magistrate fined Kelly $75 and, while acknowledging the reasons behind his actions, said the defendant had responded inappropriately and unlawfully to the situation.