Daresbury man banned from keeping dogs due to nuisance barking

Kevin Nolan has been ordered to remove his dogs from his property and prohibited from keeping any dogs there for five years.

The 59-year-old was handed a five-year criminal behaviour order after it was applied for in court by Halton Borough Council.

The order states that he must remove all dogs from his home address on Runcorn Road in Daresbury.

He must also not own, keep or participate in the keeping of dogs, or be party to an arrangement under which he is entitled to control or influence the way in which dogs are kept on the property, whether on a permanent or temporary basis.

The court heard that the council’s environmental health team had received a number of complaints about noise from Nolan’s dogs barking over a number of years.

Environmental health officers received a complaint in July 2022 which resulted in Nolan being served with an abatement notice.

Despite further warnings from environmental health, the defendant’s dogs continued to bark during the day and through the night, causing a nuisance that resulted in alarm, distress and harassment to the witnesses.

On one occasion, between 1.10am and 1.27am, approximately 5,823 barks were recorded.

Nolan pleaded guilty to seven breaches of his abatement notice and he was fined a total of £1,400.

Halton Borough Council was also awarded costs of £1,051, with a £560 victim surcharge also applied.

Following the hearing, a council spokesman said: “Noise nuisance can have a seriously detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of people living in our communities.

“We hope that this recent case sends out a message that we will not hesitate to pursue robust enforcement action against the most serious and persistent offenders, in order to protect the health and well-being of our residents.

“The council would like to acknowledge the co-operation of the witnesses in this case which enabled the council to fully investigate and resolve the matter.”