Horrified girl catches neighbour stealing her used sanitary merchandise – it will get worse
Ernest O’Neill admitted in court last year to harrassing a single mum-of-one who has now bravely shared her horrifying neighbour from hell ordeal in a Channel 5 documentary
Ernest O’Neill seen on CCTV taking the bin (Image: 5 Broadcasting Limited / alel Productions)
A young single mum has revealed she suffered nightmares after she caught her “creepy” neighbour stealing her used sanitary products and her newborn baby’s nappies from her bins. The woman, who is called Michelle, shared her horrifying ordeal on the latest episode of At War with Next Door. She also revealed shocking CCTV footage of pensioner Ernest O’Neill, who is from Warrington, sticking his tongue out and giving rude gestures outside her window.
Resident Colin Green also appeared on the Channel 5 show and he said he was told his life would be turned to “hell” when O’Neill moved back into the street. He just “laughed it off” but remembered: “From that very first night he was back in, I have had nothing but banging, clanging, blasting music.”
Colin added: “He’d actually turn his music up really loud, then turn it down, then turn it up, then turn it down, straight away you knew he was doing it to annoy you. The threats… he would shout threats through the window constantly.” Then, former care worker Michelle, who was 22 and seven months pregnant at the time, moved into the street, and Colin warned her to be wary of O’Neill and to not interact with him.
Michelle bravely shared her story (Image: 5 Broadcasting Limited / alel Productions)
Not willing to take chances, Michelle installed a camera in the kitchen window to deter snoopers, but she recalled: “I was washing the dishes in the kitchen. The sink is under the window, it was dark. I seen a man appear at my window. And he was looking in, and I just seen him looking at me. He could clearly see that I was stood there because I had my light on.”
It was an unnerving situation but things took a darker turn after she welcomed her first child. Once she returned from hospital with her newborn daughter, she disposed of her post-birth sanitary products in a sealed bag so nobody would touch it.
However, a couple of days later, she revealed: “I had seen on the camera that Ernie had come to my bin and took a yellow bag out that was full of sanitary products and the baby’s nappies. I didn’t really think anyone would touch it or take it because it’s quite personal. It made me feel like my privacy was invaded. It was a bit creepy.”
His erratic behaviour was captured on CCTV (Image: 5 Broadcasting Limited / alel Productions)
Terrified, Michelle turned to her council wellbeing officer, who contacted the police on her behalf, and officers arrived to speak to O’Neill. However, he said he took the bag because her bins were “overflowing” and he was simply trying to be a “good neighbour”.
Video footage told a different story and Michelle then had a “gut feeling” that things were about to get worse.
She said: “It was nearly every day that he was sticking his fingers up at the camera, making strange tongue motions, waving at the camera, he was just doing every little thing he could to try and get some attention I think.
“It was clearly aimed at me because it was my camera. It made me feel quite anxious, I felt like I couldn’t go out. Like I was secluded with my window shut. I started to have nightmares and I was just worried constantly. I worried in case he got violent or if he ever tried to get into my house.”
Further CCTV footage (Image: 5 Broadcasting Limited / alel Productions)
Fed up with the constant fear, she gathered the CCTV evidence and brought it to the police, and O’Neill went on to admit harassment and he was sentenced to a 12-month community order.
A restraining order was also issued and he was prohibited from approaching Michelle for two years. At sentencing, JP Jeffrey Dodd said: “The probation service is going to do some work with you. It will support the way you think about things and how to understand what is acceptable and unacceptable.”
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O’Neill, 66 at the time, of Hardy Street, Warrington, carried out the offences between October 2024 and April 2025, and he was also fined £120 and ordered to pay £199 in costs and victim surcharge.
Michelle appeared on At War with Next Door (Image: 5 Broadcasting Limited / alel Productions)
However, according to Michelle, the restraining order was broken, and it resulted in the council telling her she needed to move home.
She described this as a “relief” but added: “I feel like it’s unfair because I feel like it is me being punished for what he is doing. I feel like I have got the punishment by having to move out while he gets to live there still doing what he is doing. I just want to see it as a fresh start really.”
You can stream this episode of At War with Next Door on 5 now
