A wealthy couple have been awarded £1,000 in damages after 170 footballs were kicked into their garden from a neighbouring school's play area.
Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty took Hampshire County Council to the High Court over what they described as a "nuisance" from an all-weather pitch at The Westgate School in Winchester.
The couple, who live in a £2 million home in the cathedral city's Fulflood district, claimed they could no longer use their swimming pool and had been forced to cancel their annual summer party due to the intrusion.
Marie-Anne, a 66-year-old company director, claimed the sports pitch had "overtaken my life", while her husband, a 77-year-old property developer, alleged the school had "deliberately" built it to "upset" them.
A wealthy couple have been awarded £1,000 in damages after 170 footballs were kicked into their garden from a neighbouring school's play area
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Judge Philip Glen ruled that the footballs were creating a "nuisance" for the couple, stating that while occasional stray balls might be annoying, the "frequent projection" of them onto someone else's property breached common law.
The court, sitting in Southampton, heard that the Bakhatys moved into their home in 1994, which neighbours The Westgate School.
In 2021, the school transformed a grassed playground into an all-weather play area marked as a five-a-side football pitch, surrounded by a green wired fence approximately two metres from the boundary of the couple's property.
Marie-Anne estimated that 170 balls dropped into their garden over an 11-month period.
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The school transformed a grassed playground into an all-weather play area marked as a five-a-side football pitch, surrounded by a green, wired fence approximately two metres from the boundary of the couple's property
During a site visit to the house, the judge observed some 20 footballs lining the flowerbeds of the garden.
The judge noted that the school had installed a net over the pitch in July 2022, which had significantly reduced the problem.
He found: "The occasional ball over the fence since that time, whilst annoying is not at a sufficient level to be a substantial interference."
While declining to grant an injunction, Judge Glen ordered the council to pay £1,000 in damages for the period of "excessive use" when significant numbers of balls crossed the boundary.
Marie-Anne estimated that 170 balls dropped into their garden over an 11-month period
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He also ruled that use of the pitch by third parties outside school hours was not done “conveniently”, adding that “the frequent projection of balls” from the pitch was “a nuisance”.
However, the judge concluded that the couple had "become sensitised by the noise from the school" and "over-invested in their belief that they are victims of a wrong".
He added: "In short, they have lost perspective."
