PENSIONER Robert Cain has become the oldest man in Hull to be given an antisocial behaviour order after a seven-year campaign of harassment against his neighbours. The 70-year-old threw eggs on his neighbours' driveways, repeatedly banged his dustbin lid and displayed items in his window mocking residents.
His outbursts were caught on CCTV cameras installed by his fed-up neighbours. Cain, of Wembley Park Avenue, east Hull, has now been given an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo).
PCSO Danielle Calvert, of the East neighbourhood policing team, said: "They may seem relatively minor things individually but this was happening on a daily basis for years. We are talking about constant nuisance. It was completely relentless bullying."
Cain mocked his next-door neighbour by placing boxes of black hair dye in his window next to posters featuring the men from the 118 adverts.
"He said his neighbour looked like the men in the adverts so he put the boxes of hair dye in his window and pictures of the men," said PCSO Calvert. "He also put a toilet roll with a black moustache on it in the window, as well as a mug which had the word 'mug' written on it in large black letters.
"As well as the window displays, he would also bang his dustbin lid repeatedly, really loudly, for about an hour at a time." Police were also called to the street after Cain reversed his car towards a female neighbour, narrowly missing her, three times. He sprayed one woman with a hosepipe and tied dolls of witches to lampposts.The rift began after Cain believed his next-door neighbours had thrown cigarette butts into his garden seven years ago. He later turned on other residents who remained friends with his next-door neighbour.
PCSO Calvert said: "It has nearly torn people apart. A few of the neighbours have been on the verge of their marriages breaking up or having a nervous breakdown. His next-door neighbours have lived in their house for more than 30 years and have never had any problems until this started.
"It has made them feel like they want to move, but they don't want to have to leave the house they have lived in for such a long time."
Cain was given the three-year order at Hull Magistrates' Court after a two-day hearing. Residents from four separate houses in the street gave evidence against Cain.
The court was told police have been called to the street more than 80 times in just a few years about Cain's behaviour. A series of CCTV videos showing Cain driving at his neighbour and shouting abuse over the fence were also shown.
If Cain breaches the order, he could be arrested and face up to five years in prison. The oldest person in Hull to be issued an Asbo was Patricia Greene, who was made the subject of a two-year order in 2010, when she was 78. The oldest man to receive an Asbo was John Bernard Martindale, now 69, whose order is due to expire this year. Anyone who sees Cain breaching the order should call Humberside Police on 101.• Neighbours tell of torment over bizarre hate campaign