Man jailed after harrassing elderly neighbours by whistling Addams Family theme each time he saw them



A nuisance neighbour who taunted an elderly couple by whistling the theme from the Addams Family whenever he saw them has been jailed.

Leopold Wrobel harassed the pensioners for more than four years, making them feel like prisoners in their home.

His victims, Michael and Kathleen Sharpe, said Wrobel had 'nearly succeeded' in destroying their lives.



Michael and Kathleen Sharpe were harrassed by their neighbour for four years

Wrobel, 51, had been handed an anti-social behaviour order last December for harassing the couple.

But a court heard his nuisance behaviour, which had already lasted for four years, continued on the day the order was imposed.

The court was shown CCTV footage from cameras on the Sharpes' property, which picked up Wrobel's repeated whistling when they arrived at or left the house.

Michael Treharne, prosecuting, said each incident taken in isolation would probably seem silly or almost pathetic.

Leopold Wrobel: He taunted the couple

But he added: 'If something happens on an ongoing basis and goes on and on and on, eventually it reaches the stage of being absolutely intolerable.'

Mr Sharpe, from Wingerworth in Derbyshire, told the court Wrobel's behaviour had made his wife ill and she had started losing her hair.

'It's been devastating and it's done what he wanted to do, to try to destroy our lives,' the 68-year-old said. 'He very nearly succeeded.'

His wife told magistrates they could not leave the house without Wrobel being there.

The 66-year-old added: 'He frightens me, I've not been able to live a normal life. I was a prisoner in my own home.'

Wrobel denied breaching the Asbo and two further counts of harassment, including watching the couple and their family and whistling the theme from the 1960s horror comedy. But he was found guilty by magistrates and sentenced to 20 weeks in prison .

Julia Bosworth, defending, told Chesterfield Magistrates' Court her client disputed he was the perpetrator of all the whistling, and said his whistles were directed at his dog, not the Sharpe family.

Wrobel told the court: 'I couldn't care less what they do, it's of no interest to me at all.'

But John Warren, chairman of the magistrates' bench, said Wrobel's version of events was not credible.

Passing sentence, he said: 'You pursued a course of conduct that caused great distress to the Sharpe family and have shown no recognition of the impact on that family.'

Speaking after Wrobel was sentenced, Mrs Sharpe said: 'I'm so relieved, it's been an absolute nightmare. It's affected our health and all the family.'

Frightfully fun: The Addams Family in the original 1960s TV show



