What are my rights when someone trespasses on my property?

Question

Last night we were having a party at my house. It was 10.30 and a few of us were in the garden, the music was playing but it wasn't over the top.
A neighbour and his brother, walked in through the back gate, carrying a hammer threatening me with it and also threatened to put my head through a window if we didn't keep it down because his disabled son was trying to sleep.

I managed to calm the situation without a fight, we turned the music down and went inside which we would have done if they had just asked nicely.

What are my rights in defending my property?
If i had beaten the crap out of him in my garden would i face any consequences?
If a friend had beaten the crap out of him on my property would we face any consequences?
If we called the police would they take our side?
What are the rules on parties and music and how late you can have them?

Answer 1

They would have been charged with threatening behaviour, if you had contacted the police. Nobody is allowed to threaten people with violence, especially not with a weapon.

Answer 2

The rules relating to "anti-social" behaviour is quite clear. You are not committing an offence if the music is relatively low as in background music............... It becomes a grey area when worded as "acting or behaving in a manner likely to cause a nuisance" to your neighbour......you clearly acted presentably when you offered to turn the music down.....By entering your garden without invitation and wielding a hammer, your neighbour has broken the law because in the context that he came to you, the hammer was clearly intended as an offensive weapon, also you allege that he threatened to injure you which is another offence. You would have been within your rights to call the police but this may have inflamed the issue...............One thing is certain if it was my garden he would have had to pray for a certain part of this anatomy to be very flexible and hope it wasn't a claw hammer

Answer 3

I would have asked them to leave as they are trespassing. If this didn't work i would then beat the hell out of them. As it was before 11-00pm and you weren't breaking any laws i think they had a cheek. Anyway, if i had been threatened like that i would have probably skipped the first step and just beat them up. As it was your party i am sure your guests would have vouched that these neighbours threw the first punch therefore you were only defending yourself. If they had been reasonable and requested that you maybe tone it down a bit ,then fine. But to come in wielding a hammer, that's just not on.

Answer 4

There are no specific rules about this. It is all about reasonability.

The actionable elements in this are anything pertaining to violence. If he was carrying a hammer it was threatening behaviour and he was armed.

If you or any of your friends had done anything to him, it would be assault or grievous or actual bodily harm.

Any dispute with neighbours that doesn't generate a criminal offence is dealt with through the local authority, usually by the environmental health department.

I always assume these are UK questions, so please state if otherwise.

Answer 5

If you had hurt him you could have been prosecuted. However, had you called the police, he could have been done for threatening behaviour. You cannot threaten people with a hammer. I think, in hindsight (what a wonderful thing) you should have invited him to your party or at least pre-warned him that you were having one, then he'd at least he could have expected a little noise. However, he sounds a moron and I feel sorry that you have to live near him!

Answer 6

If your neighbour was so concerned about the noise then he should have phoned the local Environmental Health Department. Sorry but I think that there are two sides to every story, but that doesn't excuse him threatening you with a hammer.

Answer 7

I think sundown is curfew for loud noises, but not sure. Yes, you would be in trouble for fighting with the neighbor but he is also trespassing and threatening you, Sure he is stressed out but he had no right to be belligerent and he should've come over and acted like a civilized person before turning into a maniac. Remember 2 wrongs don't make a right. Try to make amends with you stupid neighbor and express to him that he didn't have to act like a freak. I'm sure if he had asked politely you probably would've turned it down anyway.

Answer 8

most place's it is 11pm. then you only have to get music and or noise down to not audible 50 feet from the source of music and or sound. you should have called police, i would have, they would have told you to turn sound down, and maybe arrested him for threatening you, and with hammer in hand with threat, the hammer was no longer a tool, it was then a weapon. i had same thing happen here in Ohio, police asked me to turn sound down, and arrested person complaining for disorderly conduct. i dropped the charge of treating with a weapon, (screwdriver). but this person wanted police to end my party, they refused due to i was willing to comply to their requests. he could have went home but the persisted in threatening me and my guests. this person has not made any complaints on me in last 3 years, and or came on my property. i now have signs up saying; no trespassing, all violators will be shot, all survivors will be shot again.

Answer 9

Most areas have "quiet time" requirements and most start around 9PM. Your neighbor threatening you is against the law. He should have called the police. Courts have different views on battery charges so you did the right thing by resisting the urge to have a physical confrontation.

Answer 10

If you felt that your safety or any one Else safety was threaten then you could use REASONABLE FORCE to remove them from your property and/or to protect yourself. i.e hitting them one to disable them is fine, hitting them 10 times whilst they are on the ground is not fine!

The fact that he had a weapon/hammer implies that he intended to use threatening force to get his own way, as such the police would always been on your side.

As for rules on parties, they vary. Generally i would just say consider your neighbors