Barking dogs lead Brandon couple to a hefty legal bill

Ayaz Khan and Sugra Bibi were served with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) by Rugby Borough Council after sound recordings revealed the couple's dogs could bark up to 98 times a minute, drowning out a neighbour's television.

And after ignoring repeated requests from council environmental protection officers to deal with the issue, the couple failed to appear at Coventry Magistrates Court on Monday (12 August) to face charges of breaching the CPN.

But both Mr Khan and Mrs Bibi were found guilty in their absence by magistrates, who imposed fines and costs totalling nearly £5,000.

The court heard the council started to receive complaints in July 2022 about dogs barking throughout the day at the couple's home in Gossett Lane.

The council informed both Khan and Bibi about the complaints by letter, but received no response.

A neighbour was keeping a log of barking incidents at the council's request and in March 2023, officers decided to issue the couple with a Community Protection Warning Notice.

The warning notice required the couple to take immediate steps to reduce the noise and frequency of the two dogs' barking.

But just three days after delivering the warning notice, the council's community wardens responded to a complaint about the dogs and judged the barking to be a subjective level of four out of five - meaning the noise was sufficient to make sleep impossible.

After installing recording equipment at a neighbouring property in April 2023, 78 recordings of the dogs were made in just a week. 

One recording captured the dogs barking 98 times in a minute. In another, three-minute recording, the dogs could be heard barking 148 times.

Environmental protection officers then served a CPN on Khan and Bibi in May 2023, giving the couple 14 days to comply.

But the council continued to receive complaints and despite officers visiting the couple's home to explain the risks of breaching a CPN - an explanation which was later repeated to the couple in a letter sent by the council - Khan and Bibi failed to comply with the notice.

When recording equipment was reinstalled at a neighbouring property in August 2023, 76 recordings of the dogs were considered a breach of the CPN, prompting the council to prosecute the couple.

Magistrates issued both Khan and Bibi with a £440 fine for breaching the CPN, an offence under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The couple were also both ordered to pay a £196 victim surcharge and the council's full legal costs - £3,667.

Speaking after the hearing, Cllr Claire Edwards, Rugby Borough Council portfolio holder for communities and homes, regulation and safety, said: "The council's environmental protection team investigates complaints about noise and, when officers have evidence the noise constitutes a statutory nuisance, we always try to work positively with the subject of the complaint to offer advice and guidance on how to deal with the issue.

"In this case, the council's efforts to find a solution to the problem were repeatedly ignored, leaving officers no other option than to prosecute."

Residents can make a complaint about a noise nuisance via the council's website: www.rugby.gov.uk/noise