Top 10 Times Nightmare Neighbours Got What They Deserved

Times-Asshole-Neighbours-Got-What-They-Deserved

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most infamous cases of terrible people who caused nearby residents a lot of trouble with their grim, often illegal behavior, only for them to see some delightful consequences.

#10: Shape of You

For months, Clare Tidmarsh in Willenhall, England, had endured one loud party after another from neighbor Sonia Bryce. After complaining to her landlord, Bryce was given a court order for being a nuisance, which she broke numerous times and was arrested. But in 2017, Tidmarsh reached her breaking point when Bryce played Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” loudly for half an hour. Bryce was dragged back to court and was sentenced to eight weeks in prison for the noise attack. Another famous case of noise bombardment came in 2006 with Miyoko Kawahara in the Nara Prefecture in Japan. Kawahara was given a 20-month jail sentence for, among other things, playing loud music for unconscionable periods of time.

#9: Slayer of Lawns

According to Bob DerHagopian in Miami-Dade, Florida, the problem began in 2008 when he hired a landscape company, ignoring the business that belonged to his neighbor, Mitchell Igelko. For four years, Igelko sought revenge against everyone. He reportedly destroyed people’s lawns with chemicals, threw eggs at cars, threatened violence, set fire to a boat, and put nails on driveways and roads. With all the CCTV evidence the neighbors had collected, Igelko was arrested in 2012 and charged with stalking and criminal mischief. For that, he received five years of probation. He later claimed this neighborly reign of terror started when he saw a resident hurt his dog, and he “lost control.”

#8: Color Rage

For 14 years, retired couple Mavis and Alan Ward in Thornton-Cleveleys, England, felt the wrath of Kirsty Robertson. She regularly abused them verbally, broke into their garden to destroy plants, and threw things at their bungalow. At one point, she stared at Alan and drew a finger across her throat. Yikes. And what sort of trigger caused this tirade of harassment? It must’ve been pretty horrible, right? Yeah…no. Robertson reportedly hated the color of the Wards’ property. After eight attempts to get justice, the time finally came for the retirees in 2015 when Robertson was handed a four-year restraining order that banned her from contacting the couple in person or virtually.

#7: Fiery Grass

Many of us have seen a neighbor whose grass is too long or plants are overgrown. Most of us just criticize them quietly in our own heads. But Phillip Bennett took a much more drastic option in 2013 in Cartersville, Georgia. He was livid that the Corbitt family had let the grass grow too tall. After arguing about it, Bennett later slapped Marty. Then, a week after it began, an unhinged Bennett threw a brick through Corbitt’s window, poured gasoline into the house and around the property, and set it afire. While Marty and his daughter got out, the house was destroyed. Bennett, who was out on parole for manslaughter, was arrested for arson.

#6: Hacker From Hell

In 2008, Matt and Bethany Kostolnik moved into their new home in Blaine, Minnesota - and into a nightmare. When neighbor Barry Ardolf behaved inappropriately with their son, the Kostolniks reported him to the police. In retaliation, Ardolf began a campaign of harassment by hacking into their wifi. He forged emails indicating Matt was having an affair and made it look like Matt had been accessing illegal content, among other things. But Ardolf’s plan fell apart when he used Matt’s account to send a violent threat to Joe Biden. The FBI traced it to Ardolf, searched his home and discovered his deeds. In 2011, as well as losing his job, Ardolf was sentenced to 18 years in jail.

#5: Cruel in Crawley

For decades, Gordon Clarke has been a massive problem for a community in Crawley, England. Examples? He sang “Another One Bites The Dust” after hearing about a neighbor with a terminal illness. He also applauded at a funeral procession, fired air rifles, and burned plastic to create a noxious smell to haunt his neighbors. Clarke has been handed Anti-Social Behavior Orders for his antics. But they did little to deter him, even when they resulted in short prison stints. In 2012, Clarke’s harassment sentence included a one-year community order, 150 hours of unpaid work, and a £300 fine. His 2022 sentence for animal neglect was suspended.

#4: Neighborhood Stalker

In 2009, Jason Clark put up a massive fence and cameras around his property in Montgomery, Alabama, and slowly began stockpiling weapons. He then spent years terrorizing his neighbors in a litany of ways. On top of physically attacking and violently threatening people, he also flashed strobe lights at drivers, hoping they’d crash. Clark also shot at people’s homes and sprayed poison on the lawns and gardens of neighbors, leading to the demise of a neighbor's dog. His reign of terror caused several residents to move away. After a load of legal battles over the years, it came to a head in 2016 when Clark was sentenced on two counts of stalking, earning 40 years in prison.

#3: Downstairs Demon

For months, residents of an apartment complex in Long Beach, California lived in fear of Lorrene Mae Lake, who wreaked havoc on her neighbors with her hateful ways. She racially abused people, vividly threatened them, and even bit and spat at one person. One resident was concerned that at any point, Lake might start shooting folk. Even after being arrested and getting a restraining order, Lake continued her campaign of terror. But in 2022, thanks to a whole host of evidence, including a video of Lake holding a rope and threatening a resident, she was arrested by the cops and charged with several counts. In 2023, she was sent to a two-year diversion program and received substance abuse treatment.

#2: Ph.Disaster

In 2023, Umar Abdullah and his family were going through hell. Their apartment smelt strongly of chemicals, causing his infant daughter to become ill. Even after getting plumbers and cleaners to check appliances and getting the all-clear, the problem remained. After Abdullah found a small crack by the front door and the heavy smell of chemicals, he set up a camera. Soon, Ph.D. student Xuming Li was seen squeezing a concoction in the gap. He had used the lab at the University of South Florida to mix together powerful opioids, allegedly to get vengeance for a noise complaint. Li was charged with several crimes, including stalking and possessing controlled substances. He pleaded not guilty and is set to be tried in December 2023.

#1: Long-Term Harassment

In 2013, Lori Christensen gained national infamy for her reign of terror against her neighbors, Greg and Kim Hoffman, in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Christensen would yell expletives at their children, put up signs mocking Kim’s battle with alcohol, and threatened them with violence, resulting in over 100 calls to the cops. And it all started after their daughters fell out in 1999. After violating a restraining order, Christensen was eventually arrested and sentenced to five years of probation, a $200 fine, 50 hours of community service, and counseling. Christensen returned to the news in 2021 when she was arrested for harassing new people in a different neighborhood, using the same terror tropes as before.


What’s the worst thing YOU have ever done to a neighbor and why did you do it? Let us know below!