Single father-of-six slams neighbour over anti-child alarm which can only be heard by under-25s

A father-of-six says his retired magistrate neighbour is making his family’s life hell – after she installed an anti-child alarm on her house.

Single father Thomas Weldon, 52, claims his children have been hospitalised and left housebound by the controversial high-pitched alarm, which he claims was installed by neighbour Lesley Cooper earlier this year. 

The removal worker, who lives in the quiet seaside town of Babbacombe, Devon, alleges the alarm points directly at his door and during the summer months has been turned on at least three times a week.

Thomas, who lives in a rented four-bedroom property which backs onto Ms Cooper’s home, said the alarm has made his children feel like they are being kept prisoner in their home during the summer months.

Thomas Weldon points at the anti-child alarm which he claims retired magistrate Lesley Cooper has pointed at the place where his children play

But retired teacher says she has been forced to do so because of the behaviour of Thomas’ large brood who she has branded a ‘nuisance’.

The alarms, which are completely legal, produce a high-pitched discomforting noise that is only audible to young children and teenagers.

But he says the alarm causes his youngsters to scream in pain and has led to a bitter neighbourhood dispute between the pair.  

Lesley Cooper a magistrate who has apparently put an anti child alarm no her house due to persistent problems with young people

Thomas, who is father to Mitchell, five, Lilly, eight, Lola, nine, Anthony, 11, Thomas, 13 and Shannon, 15, said: ‘This alarm has affected the kids really badly – they’re scared to go outside at all.

‘The alarm makes them scream in pain, I even had to take my daughter to hospital because her ears didn’t stop ringing.

‘I absolutely love where I live but I just can’t stand the terror she’s causing.

‘We love our area and we live in a beautiful place but my kids are like prisoners.

‘I don’t want to move out because I love where I live.

‘It’s not just me she’s terrible to, it’s the whole area – she really is Britain’s worst neighbour.

‘I’ve got six children and she’s been vile to all of them.

‘I just want a peaceful and nice life without that alarm pointing at me.’

Thomas no longer lives with the mother of his children after an amicable split. She now lives in Torquay.

The family have lived in the quaint village for most of the last 18 years- having briefly moved out of the area in 2011.

Lesley, who spent many years serving as a magistrate, confirmed she has had the alarm there for three years.

But she says she has only turned it on four times when children have been hurling objects at her property.

What is the mosquito alarm?

The controversial alarm (pictured) was the subject of a campaign in 2008 to get it banned in the UK

The mosquito alarm is designed to deter young people from a specific area.

The alarm itself is said to not be painful but very irritating for youngsters- who will move away from an area to get away from the sound. 

It was invented by Howard Stapleton in 2005- with the idea coming to him after being irritated by a factory noise.

The device is legal and does not require any planning permission. It is simply attached to the outside of your home or a post.

The device has attracted a lot of controversy. 

 In February 2008 a campaign call ‘Buzz Off’ was launched to get the device banned.

The campaign claimed they were aggressive and created no-go areas for children and young adults who weren’t guilty of anything. 

But the government said they have no plans to ban them.

In the same year the National Autistic Society said they ‘extremely concerned’ about the effects of the device on people with autism.

 In 2010, an investigation by the Council of Europe found that the device was ‘ degrading and discriminatory’ to youngsters and should be banned because it ‘violates legislation prohibiting torture’.

A device installed at a Spar shop in Caerleon Road in Newport, South Wales, was banned for three months by a community safety partnership.

Despite the controversy it does have some supporters.

It has previously been backed by the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores. 

Thomas added: ‘I have six children and they like to play outside. She even called the police when one of their balls banged against her garage twice.

‘I have reported it to the council and I have been told the alarm is illegal and against children’s human rights. When the sun is shinning she puts it on regularly.

‘I’ve asked her to take it down but she won’t talk to me. It’s the most anti-social thing I have ever known in my life.

‘We’re just a normal family trying to get on with our lives. It’s like she is trying to drive us away.’

The alarms, which cost £600, are said to infringe human rights under noise-nuisance laws.

When the Mosquito MK4 alarm and motion sensor was launched in 2008, a campaign called ‘Buzz Off’ led by the Children’s Commissioner for England called for it to be banned, claiming the device was unnecessarily aggressive and created no-go areas for children and young adults who may have done nothing wrong.

In 2010, an investigation by the Council of Europe found that the device was ‘ degrading and discriminatory’ to youngsters and should be banned because it ‘violates legislation prohibiting torture’.

Since it went on the market, thousands have been sold in the UK, mainly to small-shop owners, but it is understood sales of the device to families and home owners are soaring.

It works by emitting an alternating high-frequency tone four times a second which isn’t audible to people over about 25 years of age, but is intensely irritating to people under that age. 

Age related hearing loss (called presbycusis) occurs to most of us as we get older.

A number of factors can contribute to it such as long term exposure to loud noises, conditions more common to elderly people such as diabetes or high blood pressure and issues with the the outer and inner ear.

It has been claimed that two previous tenants at Thomas’ property have left because of the dispute.

The owner of Thomas’s rented house says other tenants have left.

Mrs Ridgewell, who bought the house 14 years ago, said: ‘Before Thomas lived there I had two other tenants leave.

‘My daughter rented the house for a while and lived there with my grandchild and her husband. She drove them insane to the point where they had to move back in with me.

‘She just doesn’t stop complaining and writes to me moaning about the tenants. In the beginning I thought they must have done something until my own daughter lived there for about 18 months around five years ago.

‘It’s a beautiful home in a lovely location and it’s meant to be a family home.

‘It’s so sad really as I can’t imagine wanting to live in total conflict all of the time. It’s much nicer to just say, ‘good morning’.

Ms Cooper confirmed that she has an alarm on her house but said she had only used it four times in three years, for five minutes each time, when children had been throwing objects at her house.

She said: ‘The alarm has been passed by Torbay Council and the police.

The mosquito alarm that is fitted to Lesley Cooper’s property and is causing a dispute with her neighbour Thomas Weldon

‘It has been authorised because of the persistent nuisance which disturbs my residence by the family at the rear of my property in Princes Street.

‘They have continually vandalised, harassed and made a complete nuisance of themselves. The authorities are still dealing with it.

‘The alarm has been passed by the European Court of Justice and by the British Parliament.

‘I am an awarded teacher of 15 years. The alarm has been on four times in three years because objects were being hurled at my property for a maximum of five minutes at a time. My two garages are at the back in Princes Street.

‘I think I am a very good resident. I am an honest-living, concerned neighbour at all times and I wish others to behave likewise.’

The front of Ms Cooper’s property. The retired teacher said she has only ever used the alarm ‘four times’ for a period of ‘just a few minutes’

Thomas Weldon’s property (on the left) and Lesley Cooper’s (on the right). The mosquito alarm that is fitted to Ms Cooper’s property can been seen in the red circle

Thomas Weldon, 52 with his children (L-R) Anthony, Lola, Mitchell, Lilly, and Thomas, Shannon not pictured)

Torbay Council said: ‘We currently have no open case regarding this issue. We would ask that the complainant come forward so that we can conduct any necessary investigation.’

Ms Cooper said her mother, Joan Cooper had been a well-known and well-respected Torbay councillor for many years.

The landlady at The Buccaneer pub on Babbacombe Downs, Marion Ricketts, said she and other neighbours supported Thomas in his fight to have the alarm removed.

Mrs Ricketts said: ‘We have had problems with her banging on our doors for seven years every time a delivery lorry stops in the lane.

‘I can handle her but it’s what she’s doing to the kids that all of the neighbours are unhappy about. I’m an adult. I can stand up for myself. But it’s not right to have that alarm hurting kids.

‘The alarms should be banned everywhere.

‘Thomas has got a lot of children but they are so well-behaved. They are doing what kids should do – going outdoors, not sitting inside playing on an XBox.’