A family was left with no choice but to move house after an abusive neighbour shouted threats like 'i'll snap your neck off' in front of their young child.
The family, who lived next door to Michael Maloney on Teddy Square in Widnes, were left in fear of leaving the house in the event that they might receive a barrage of abuse from their volatile neighbour.
Maloney appeared before Warrington Magistrates Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to one offence of using threatening behaviour with intent to cause fear.
Prosecuting, Marta Pawowska said the defendant and the victim's family had had a 'long standing dispute' for many years.
She said: "At 9pm on December 7, the 11-year-old daughter of the victim had gone outside to leave some rubbish in the bin.
"She let the bin close and it made a loud noise."
This is when the victim in the case, the father of the 11-year-old, went outside and began 'shouting' at Maloney, who retaliated, throwing threats and the man.
Maloney said to the victim, 'I will snap your neck in a minute if you carry on.'
He then made a further threat saying, 'I will snap your fingers.'
The police were called to the incident shortly after and the defendant was arrested.
Ms Pawowska read a victim impact statement to the court from the neighbour.
It said: "I feel this incident has made my anxiety worse. I now feel paranoid about seeing my neighbour.
"It has made me worry about leaving my house.
"I used to dread coming home to see him staring out the window at me or laughing.
"I moved house early 2026 because of this but there is always a worry I will see him and there will be conflict."
The victim stated that his fear of seeing the defendant would worsen in the evenings 'after he had had a few drinks.'
He added: "I would be scared of seeing him and him being angry."
Maloney has two previous convictions for two offences.
Ms Pawowska stated: "The crime is aggrivated by the appearance of the 11-year-old child and that he was intoxicated at the time of the incident."
Chair of the bench, Paula Jones handed Maloney a community order for the duration of 18 months.
Within the order, the defendant was told to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and to pay £100 of compensation to the victim, as well as £199 of court costs.
A restraining order was also imposed to stop the defendant from making direct contact with the victim or his family.
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