Neighbour from hell destroyed my life, court hears

A mother of two told a court yesterday her 67-year-old neighbour destroyed her life and that she was now a prisoner in her own home.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Patrizia Crowley said Martin McLaughlin, described by Judge Gerard Keyes as “a neighbour from hell”, had destroyed her as a person. “I am unable to live the life I want. I don’t have the freedom to come and go.”

Her fears were expressed in a victim impact statement yesterday. Sentencing of McLaughlin was adjourned until April.

A father of seven grown-up children, McLaughlin, from Ballymaconna, Barefield, Ennis, was found guilty of threatening to kill his neighbour, Raymond Crowley, in 2010. The retired Department of Agriculture officer was also convicted of harassing Raymond and Patrizia Crowley from October 1, 2006, to March 31, 2012.

Ms Crowley said yesterday: “I live in constant fear for the lives of my children, my husband, and myself. I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I won’t walk outside around my property unless Raymond is with me.

“I drive across to my neighbours’ houses because I am too afraid of walking down my own driveway and straight across the road. My health has been affected because of Martin McLaughlin. I have had to go to the doctor on numerous occasions. I have received counselling. I am worried all the time.

“I fear that Martin McLaughlin will carry out his threat to kill Raymond. This has caused a lot of anxiety and I’m constantly checking CCTV during the night. My children’s health has also suffered. They see I am terrified in my home all the time so they are frightened — my eldest son’s childhood innocence has been robbed from him,” she said.

“We built our dream house that we thought would be a happy and safe home, but instead, our house is full of upset, misery, pain, sickness, and unhappiness. I feel homeless in our new house because a home is somewhere you feel safe and secure. Martin McLaughlin has taken that away because of his death threats and the constant watching and harassment, day and night. I wish we had never moved back to Barefield. It does not feel like a home to me.”

Mr Crowley said from the first day he walked into the site and met McLaughlin, it had been a living nightmare. “The pain, stress, and fear that this man has brought to me, my wife, and kids is hard to put into words. He has taken away all our hope and dreams and replaced them with fear and misery.

“We wish we could move from the area, but because of our financial circumstances, we are unable,” he said.

“Martin McLaughlin threatened my life and that is something I will never forget.”

Judge Keyes described McLaughlin’s behaviour as appalling. “I just cannot understand how a man with his education, all the opportunities he had in life, that he would treat the Crowleys the way he did and made their life a misery.

“A lot of people describe a person like that as a neighbour from hell. I just cannot understand why someone would behave like that.”

Counsel for McLaughlin, Antoinette Simon, read out a letter of apology: “I, Martin McLaughlin wish to apologise unreservedly for any hurt I have caused to ye. It is my wish and my family’s wish to put the past behind and all live in peace and harmony.”

Ms Simon said two of McLaughlin’s children are teachers, two are engineers and four others run their own businesses. She also said her client suffered from depression.

Yesterday, McLaughlin, 68, gave a sworn undertaking not to interfere with the Crowleys. “I apologise for any hurt that I have caused but I have to say that a lot of the stuff that came out was not the truth.”

Stephen Coughlan, for the State, said that, a number of days after the trial, Anne McLaughlin complained to gardaí about Mr Crowley driving into a driveway owned by her daughter but withdrew it a few days later.

He said the State viewed McLaughlin’s attempts at mediation with the Crowleys since the trial, via An Garda Síochána, as too little, too late.