A WOMAN who was fed up with neighbours kicking balls into her garden decided to take revenge.
Rosie asked internet users if she was a after getting to the end of her tether with “six” balls landing in there every day.
Mum Rosie said she was keeping any balls kicked over by neighbours so they have to knock and collect themCredit: tiktok.com/@rosie010896
On her @rosie010896 account, she shared: “Okay, I need someone on this app to tell me if I’m being a Karen or not, because I feel like I’m very in my head about the situation, and I just don’t know if it’s that deep.
“So, for reference, we live in a cul de sac, so we have gardens backing onto our garden.
“There are two little boys in the house over there, and then the next garden next to it, there’s two more little boys, and they both play , so I’m not entirely sure which ones it is.
“But literally every day there are about five or six
One of the reasons it annoys her is that she has just to make it less patchy and they are trying to “keep things off the lawn for now.”
She continued: “So every single day, I’m having to log back over the fence, like, five to six footballs.
“I wouldn’t mind if it was occasionally, but at this point, it’s literally every single day.”
She said the boys kick balls against their fence from 9am, at lunch time and then at 7pm, when her kids are in bed.
Aside from finding the constant kicking “annoying”, she also said the balls hit her kids when they are playing in the garden.
Rosie added: “They literally get whacked on the head with footballs.
“And I know you have to just let kids be kids and I don’t wanna be that Karen. I don’t want to be that neighbour that’s just moaning.”
After over for a while, she has now decided to take a different approach.
Rosie explained: “There are never any consequences to these boys’ actions, so I’m just gonna keep the footballs here and I’m gonna make them come round and ask.
“And then when they do, I’m just gonna politely say, ‘would you mind just controlling them a little bit more because they’re currently hitting my children’s heads when they’re trying to play in the garden?’”
She asked people for their advice and if they thought she was
What is the common law on nuisance behaviour with neighbours?
The High Court has ruled that kids who repeatedly kick footballs over the garden fence and into neighbours gardens are breaking common law.
High Court Judge Philip Glen ruled that while the odd accidental ball kicking would be just “annoying”, the “frequent projection” of them onto someone else’s land would be in violation of the law.
So, if your kids are found to have been intentionally, and consistently, kicking balls over the fence to frustrate your neighbour, they could be in breach of common law.
This is as a new precedent has been set, with Glen’s ruling this week, that the repeated nuisance action would be in breach of the law.
While your kids can’t be arrested for kicking the balls over, your neighbours may be able to sue you if they can prove the nuisance was consistent and intentional.
If they can prove these things, you may be likely to lose, due to the new precedent set.
Hampshire County Council was ordered to pay Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty £1,000 in damages for the period of time when there was “excess use” of an all-weather play area at their neighbouring school, after making a complaint that a large number of balls were falling into their garden and pool.
Some people felt she should lighten up, with one person writing: “Imagine moaning about kids playing football.”
Another added: “So if your kids decide to play ball and it goes over how would you feel?”
And a third commented: “Consequences to their actions? They’re playing football, not shop lifting.”
However, many people defended her in the comments and said they’d feel the same way.
One shared: “You aren’t . I would stop sending them back!”
And a second agreed: “Imagine the parents not adding a net on top of the fence to stop this specially if it’s hitting other kids.”
