Neighbours take man to French court for playing same song over and over

Fed-up neighbours took a man in northern France to court for repeatedly playing the same song in a bid, they claimed, to harass them. 

The man, in his 60s, who was not named by local media, was from Wambrechies (Nord). 

He appeared in court in Lille on charges of harassment.

His neighbour accused him of listening to the song Laisse-moi t’aimer (Let me love you) by Israeli crooner Mike Brant, on repeat in 2019.

Mr Brant enjoyed success in France in the 1970s. 

The neighbours said they were insulted and suffered repeated noise disturbance for a year. 

They launched a complaint, supported by 10 other neighbours, against the man for his “provocative behaviour”. 

They claimed he waited behind a window to hurl insults, as well as playing the song over and over at full volume. 

They also complained that the man’s roosters woke them early in the morning. 

The harassment was so bad, local media reported, that the complainant moved some 800km away and was not present by the time the case reached the Lille court in March. 

“I just wanted to listen to my favourite singer,” the man said, according to France Bleu. 

He had had no intent to harass, his lawyer added. 

"It's not a crime to listen to Mike Brant. He's not always very pleasant, but that doesn't make him a criminal," he told the court. 

The man was acquitted and ended up moving house. 

Noise complaints in France

Noise complaints are not uncommon in French towns and villages. 

France’s health code states that no noise should, “by its duration, repetition or intensity”, be “detrimental to the peace and quiet of the neighbourhood”.

France even has rules governing when you can make a certain noise, such as mowing your lawn (only between 10:00 and 12:00 if it is a Sunday or public holiday). 

In reality, some noise is expected; children playing in the garden or light DIY work will not usually see anyone hauled into court. 

But there are no specific rules governing how loud someone can be in terms of decibel level; it is up to the authorities to judge which noises qualify as disturbances.

A neighbour can only take another resident to court for noise disturbance if they have first tried to resolve the issue amicably. 

There have been some notorious noisy neighbour cases in France that have been thrown out by the courts. 

In 2017, some 20 second-home owners in the Alpine village of Le Biot (Haute-Savoie), many of them British, complained about the constant noise of cowbells attached to cattle in the area. 

Their complaint was dismissed, and even prompted 400 protesters to gather and clang cowbells near the complainants’ homes.