A NIGHTMARE neighbour opened a couple’s post, photographed them sunbathing and called police to their house 27 TIMES during a horrific year-long stalking campaign.
Creepy David Whinham, 45, continuously harassed the terrified pair and even falsely informed financial companies one of them was a criminal.
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The exhausted couple were knocked up by cops and their landlord “at all times of the day and night” after Whinham made up malicious complaints about noise.
In one 999 call, he claimed the man and woman were singing loudly with a karaoke machine – despite them not even owning one.
Whinham also disturbingly took snaps of the residents of the multistorey flats in Sandyford, Newcastle, as they sunbathed and walked down the street.
They endured 12 months of abuse at the hands of their nasty neighbour – who even rifled through their mail.
A court heard how the 45-year-old also told financial companies that the male victim was a criminal, which impacted his claim for PIP benefits.
Whinham left his victims “worried, stressed and anxious” about his next move, as they were unable to go about their daily lives.
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One neighbour exclusively told The Sun Online how Whinham tried to drive a wedge between the couple and other close-knit residents.
Local Stuart Dugdale, 43, said: “We all attended wine clubs and would drink together, we would also barbecue outside in the summer.
“It was lovely, we all got on great. He was always trying to turn other flats against them.
“He slid an article about them under my door and wrote ‘don’t have anything to do with them’. He even spoke to my parents about them.
“He threw another neighbour’s furniture in the skip and told the council to get rid of plant pots we had bought for the terraced area to make it look nicer.”
Another neighbour even claimed Whinham had used “microphones to spy on people”.
Prosecutor James Long said Whinham had made “unfounded complaints against his neighbours between August 2020 and August 2021, “all of which were found to be without merit”.
In a statement, the male complainant said he had been diagnosed with severe stress and anxiety as well as being put on medication due to the ordeal.
He slid an article about them under my door and wrote ‘don’t have anything to do with them’. He even spoke to my parents about them.
Stuart Dugdale
But one neighbour suggested he had been “surrounded by noisy neighbours” and was frustrated as the volume travelled up to his top floor flat.
Tim Gregory, defending, said Whinham would argue that not all of the complaints to the police were fictitious.
He added: “There was some genuineness about his approach at first, he just took it too far.
“The main allegation against Mr Whinham was the interception of the post.
“Lockdown didn’t help and he felt trapped in his accommodation and had time on his hands.”
Sentencing Whinham, District Judge Zoe Passfield said: “You opened someone else’s post and your actions have had a serious effect on the complainants over the period of a year.”
Whinham was handed a 12-month community order after he pleaded guilty to one count of stalking at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court.
He was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to each victim and was made subject of a 12-month restraining order.
He must also pay £85 costs.
