One of Norway’s most spectacular feuds among neighbours reached a new climax on Tuesday when an appeals court sentenced one of them to four months in jail for literally sawing one of his neighbour’s storage shed in half. The defendant claimed half of it was illegally situated on his property.
The feud has played out in one of the Oslo area’s most affluent residential areas on the island of Nesøya, west of the capital, with the defendant also charged with illegally chopping down another neighbour’s cherry tree, plum tree and berry bushes, and removing a 70-year-old stone wall. A lower court had also convicted the defendant of aggravated vandalism. Prosecutors sought a jail term of 90 days, but both courts found 120 days more appropriate.
The defendant, a 44-year-old investor and former hedge fund manager who allegedly has harassed his neighbours for years, was also ordered to pay his neighbours NOK 410,000 in compensation plus NOK 224,000 to an insurnace firm. He’s already planning to appeal to Norway’s Supreme Court.
“The verdict is full of mistakes,” his defense attorney told state broadcaster NRK. “The last word in this case has not been spoken.”
newsinenglish.no staff
