CHIPPENHAM magistrates have heard how unemployed David Furber made death threats against his neighbour, mother-of-three Angela Naldi, during a bitter dispute that has lasted more than a year.

The feud ended up in court on May 9, when Furber, 21, admitted breaching the peace at an incident in September 2002 at the block of flats where they live in Phelps Parade, Calne.

Magistrates in Chippenham heard how an inebriated Furber had disrupted Mrs Naldi's son's 12th birthday party, threatening to put a bullet in her head and to harm her son.

Stacey Turner, prosecuting, told the court that the next morning, Furber was standing at the window of his home overlooking the other flats.

From his window, he pointed towards Mrs Naldi and dragged his finger across his throat.

But Nicola Jennings, defending, told the court the incident was part of an ongoing dispute between two families and that both parties were, at some point, to blame.

In court, Furber was bound over to keep the peace for the second time this year in relation to the ongoing dispute at the flats.

The first occasion was in March this year, when Mrs Naldi said Furber and her eldest son Darren, 18, were both bound over for disturbing the peace after an altercation outside Furber's flat.

After the most recent case, Mrs Naldi spoke of what she called a year of hell at the hands of Furber, who lives in the same set of flats above the shopping parade, owned by Westlea Housing Association.

She said that Furber was fine when he first moved into his flat in February 2002.

She claims their relationship first soured in April last year when she asked him to stop sitting on her wall.

Furber eventually complied, but she said he was verbally abusive to her. She said he continued to berate her after he returned to his flat and Mrs Naldi telephoned the police.

Mrs Naldi, who has lived in the flats for nearly 20 years, said at one time problems with Furber occurred on a daily basis, but were particularly bad on Friday nights.

She alleges Furber slashed the tyres on her bicycle, which she keeps locked up outside her front door.

She also claims that on one night, Furber shone his torch through front door and ground floor windows at some of the flats.

She said Furber was angry because he claimed someone had broken the glass on his front door window and shouted out he wouldn't rest until he found out who it was.

Mrs Naldi claims Furber regularly used foul and threatening language and gestures to her children, friends and neighbours and that she has telephoned the police at least 50 times since the trouble started last April.

"I think he's clever because he only does it to women and children," she said. "There are neighbours who are scared of him and won't speak up against him."

Mrs Naldi, a factory worker at H and H Electronics, in Porte Marsh Road, Calne, told the Gazette: "During the last year I have been really depressed.

"Some weekends I wouldn't go out in case I came back and found the windows smashed.

"He really made our lives miserable. All I want is to live in a street where everyone works and people have to go to bed early, because those kind of people don't damage their houses or anyone else's."

She said she has complained to Westlea Housing on numerous occasions, but that it has done nothing to alleviate the situation.

But Furber, who lives in the flats with his girlfriend and one-year-old son, claims that he is the victim and that his neighbours are part of a close-knit community which is against him.

Speaking after the case, he said: "I feel picked on.

"My girlfriend and I are applying to the housing association for a move. We just want to get out of here. We don't want any trouble.

"My little boy is a year old and I just want to kick a ball around with him. I don't want the aggro. I had too much of that when I was younger."

A spokesman for Westlea Housing Association said: "We always take any complaints of anti-social behaviour seriously and have recently introduced an updated procedure to deal with such cases.

"Tenants must abide by the conditions of their tenancy or expect to face action which may, in serious cases, lead to court proceedings.

"However, we also ask tenants and homeowners to recognise that being neighbourly depends on mutual tolerance, realistic expectations, and people being considerate towards each other. Westlea, as landlord, cannot force neighbours to get on with each other."

adavey@newswilts.co.uk