how pathetic this is, like everyone else has said, try to stay calm when you speak to police and hopefully they will realise that your neighbours are out to cause trouble and might end up getting charged themselves for wasting police time.

so ridiculous.

Thankyou all you guys are so kind!
Unfort I have totaly no money, I am in debt to everyone I could borrow money off and I have less money than I need coming in so I cant afford CCTV or a solicitor (or to move house)
They know I live alone and know (most of the time) when I have visitors as on a couple of occasions when I have gone out and they didnt know there were other people in the house their music has got v loud

I spoke to my other neighbour - I am on a corner in a semi detached with this other neighbour at the corner of my garden
She is willing to say she didnt hear anything, she never hears my dogs when she goes past my house when I am not in and the only time she ever hears them is sometimes during the day when I am in the garden with them - but it is normal and not excessive

I wondered if it is possible to get history from my computer of when I am actualy using it because I would have been on the computer at that time and if Ben had needed out then it would have only been for less than a min and I would have been back on the computer

Sorry to hear this.

look into whether you are entitled to legal aid. x

ETA I can't remember if Ben and Mia are insured, but if they are, your cover may include legal advice - worth checking anyway.

This is awful, I havent seen your previous posts about your neighbours as I am quite new on here.
I have just read some of it out to my OH who works in IT security,

He says...(after making big disclaimer)

"All computers retain a trace of activity that can be recovered with the right tools and expertise, but this would have to be done under forensic conditions which isn't cheap... if you wanted to explore this route, the best option would be to offer your computer up as evidence to the police, they will do the hard work if they wish to prosecute the case (as they have to explore all evidence) but does mean you could loose your PC till its all sorted. A prosecution could argue that since you offered the evidence, that you may have tampered with it, but it would be down to how good the various professional witness' to argue that one out. Alternatively, have you made any posts / sent emails during the claimed time? If so use them as evidence as you won't be able to tamper with the remote end which makes the evidence much more robust..."

HTH

I agree with everyone else, stay calm when you see the police, (although I know I would be very angry and upset) try and get some of you other neighbours to back you up.

Sending you big hugs
xx

Tell the council you wanna start proceedings for an asbo against the nieghbours, show the council your diary of events to back things up and when its at the table you can ask for mediation and get it sorted between you with other people present..... x

I honestly can't believe the police can deal with something like this coz of MY past experience with wanting to complain about noise issues, they have always told me they DON'T deal with this type of thing anymore, it's always the Environmental Health at the local council who deals with any such complaints now, be it dogs, noisey pubs, whatever, so I smell a rat here, a big one!

Maybe those neighbours of yours either have some police as friends, or they've got some friends to go down the fancy dress hire shop! Did you actually get their numbers in which case you can phone the station and check up onthis, and what's the paperwork like? I just can't believe it, unless it's different in your area, coz our police would never be interested in barking dogs even if they barked constantly day and night! Good luck, but something smells very fishy tome.

I agree that you should go to the Council even if the house isn't council proerty they wil not tolerate this sort of thing, but keep a diary. The dog insurance policy if you have any does have legal cost insurance attached so use that. As for how you get the history off your computer I know you can but not how. Thank goodness one neighbour is willing to stand up for you. What a watse of Police time - your neighbours should be done for wasting costly time like that. Try Environmental Health too because they can help. The statutory max time is 20 minutes per dog and as they have already agreed it is far below that they should be able to help. My heart goes out to you though. Stay calm with the Police or it looks like you are guilty if you get defensive and good luck. xx

Suggest that when you have your court date you look for the duty solicitor ...

Just to let you know that ...Preservation of the Queen’s Peace is a duty which is imposed on all citizens. Police officers have, however, a particular responsibility in this area. What is meant by “the Queen’s Peace”? It is almost certainly the case, as has been pointed out by Feldman, that the word “peace” here is used as the opposite of “war”, rather than as in the phrase “peace and quiet”(Feldman 1993, p787). The obligation to keep the peace is not an obligation to refrain from annoying the neighbours with loud music or other rowdy behaviour, but to refrain from fighting or other violent conduct, or behaviour which is likely to provoke such conduct. This is reflected in the currently generally accepted definition of a “breach of the peace”, which is contained in the Court of Appeal decision in Howell [1982] QB 416. A rather broader definition put forward by Lord Denning in R v Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall, ex parte Central Electricity Generating Board [1982] Q.B. 458 (at 471) to the effect that the mere physical obstruction of a person lawfully going about his business could in itself amount to a breach of the peace, without the need for any violence to have been caused or to be likely, has not received support in any later cases. The definition used in Howell is as follows ([1982] QB 416, 427):
“We are emboldened to say that there is a breach of the peace whenever harm is actually done or is likely to be done to a person or in his presence his property or a person is in fear of being so harmed through an assault, an affray, a riot, unlawful assembly or other disturbance.”
This indicates that these elements are sufficient, but does not preclude other ways of a breach of the peace occurring. It is clear, however, that what is required is actual or potential violence, and that mere disturbance is not enough. (stones )

Well then, from what you've quoted there G, it would appear that this disturbance is purely NOISE, which as I have said previously is not a concern for the police, they only deal with voilence and physical abuse blah, blah, blah, never just noise, that is classed as Noise Nuisance Control which is dealt with by the environmental health, sowhat the hell are they doing sticking their noses into something that doesn't concern them instead of catching criminals!!!!

Helena54, after reading through this again I am inclined to agree with you, noise is definately council stuff. It certainly is sounding quite fishy!!

Police turn up and charge for breach of the peace incident 4 nights previously??!! We are of the belief witnesses need to be independant too, so 2 people backing each other up from the same property - hmmm?

All this said, I realise it will be Scottish law and sometimes that is different to UK law.
Either way I hope it all gets sorted, its a rotten position to be in.
More hugs,
x