Judge grants injunction against noisy neighbours who say they've moved

A family who claimed their neighbours harassed them for more than a year obtained an injunction to stop the aggression, even though the neighbours say they no longer live there.

Tam Shui-chuen, his wife Teresa Pong Seong and their daughter Estefania Tam Seen-mann complained in a High Court writ that their neighbours had caused them to feel unsafe in their home on Kadoorie Hill.

They said they were subjected to foul language and loud noise from lower-floor neighbour Norman Chan and his mother Shirley Wai So-lin and had paint sprayed on their flat in Braga Circuit.

The court heard Chan wanted to settle the case, saying he was no longer their neighbour. But the Tams insisted on an injunction because the mother and son had failed to show conclusive evidence that they would never return to their flat.

Granting the injunction, Deputy Judge Linda Chan Ching-fan said the family had shown enough evidence to prove that Chan had harassed them on at least five occasions between May 2010 and April 2011.

"It is clear that without such injunctions, it is likely that in particular Mr Chan will commit the acts complained of or other acts for the purpose of harassing, assaulting or causing disturbance," the judge wrote in the judgment.