Couple threatened by neighbours in long-running feud over where they park their motorhomes

A female firefighter was knocked to the ground and her boyfriend was told he would be shot over a ‘festering’ and long-running parking feud with their neighbours.

Outdoor loving Michelle Vickers and William Longley were targeted by neighbours Kim Fowles and Stephen Barton who had grown frustrated with where the couple parked their VW Transporter van and another motorhome on their narrow street. 

During the incident Fowles knocked Ms Vickers over while her boyfriend, heavy metal guitarist Barton, 54, threatened to gun down Mr Longley, 35, and shake him off his ladder as he was repairing a window.

Hairdresser Fowles, 51, who had been with Barton in their local pub, later claimed Ms Vickers and Mr Longley had been ‘intimidating’ them over the way they parked their camping vehicles outside their terraced homes in the normally genteel village of Malpas in Cheshire.

The couple also claimed they had been shouted at, threatened with a baseball bat and attacked with a tin of deep heat spray.

Ms Vickers, 32, escaped unhurt in last month’s incident but Mr Longley, who runs a drain cleaner business, was said to have been left in distress by the threats. No gun was ever found.

At Chester magistrates court, Fowles and Barton pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour.

Tanya Berridge-Burley, prosecuting, said: ‘It was 10.50pm on July 2 when police received a call from one of the complainants reporting that there was a male and a female at their gate and that they were being threatened.

‘Officers arrived and went into the home of Ms Fowles. There was a smell of intoxicants and Mr Barton was slurring his speech.

The court heard Mr Barton claimed he had been assaulted when questioned by officers who had been told by their neighbours that he had threatened to get a gun and shoot Mr Longley.

Ms Berridge-Burley said: ‘One of the complainants, William Longley, said he was up a set of ladders trying to fix windows which had been falling out.

‘As he was up the ladder he heard Mr Barton say he was going to push him off. Therefore, he came off the ladder when Mr Barton crossed the road, fearing that he was going to carry out the threat.

‘When he came down from the ladder Mr Barton became abusive towards him. Mr Longley said he was talking incoherently and swearing.’

The court heard Ms Vickers then came out to check what was going on and was pushed by Ms Fowles, causing her to fall to the ground. 

‘Ms Vickers has then closed the gate and bolted it.

‘Both defendants continued being abusive. Mr Barton said he was going across the road to get to a firearm. He said he was going to get it and bring it back.’

Both Ms Fowles and Mr Barton were arrested when police officers arrived, with Mr Barton accepting he instigated the incident while Ms Fowles denied assaulting Ms Vickers, claiming self-defence but later admitted using threatening behaviour.

In mitigation for Fowles, solicitor Miss Stevie Lumb said: ‘As you have heard there is a history of a parking dispute. Parking is quite sparse. It is terraced housing with only a row of parking available to the residents.

‘It is an ongoing issue with the neighbours who have three or possibly four vehicles that they park on the road outside of their neighbours. They include vans and campervans, we are not talking small vehicles. It has been an ongoing issue for quite some time.’

For Barton who had recently been made redundant from his job as a production engineer, lawyer Richard Sibeon said: ‘The parking dispute, which is a common issue, has clearly been a festering wound that has been there for some time.

‘His problem is that idle threat or the suggestion that he has some sort of firearm. He does not have a firearm. He does not know why he said it. He has no connection with firearms. It was likely said in the heat of the moment.’

Fowles was conditionally discharged for 12-months and ordered to pay Miss Vickers £100 in compensation plus £119 in costs and victim surcharge.

Barton was fined £120 and made to pay £100 in compensation to Mr Longley plus £123 in costs and victim surcharge.

‘This was a long-standing dispute about parking,’ Chairman Tim Mann said, ‘No-one owns the road and people can park where they like. I am afraid that if parking is tight, the parking is tight.

‘Whatever you may think about those people parking on the road, it is a public road, you do not have any right to it. Getting to court about this is so unnecessary and wrong and causes problems for everyone involved.’