When you think of asbos I imagine you think of unruly youths with low slung tracksuit bottoms, all hoodied up, congregating on street corners drinking cheap cider and throwing cigarette ends and obscenities at random passers by, and you wouldn’t be wrong. I bet though you wouldn’t imagine a little old granny, but believe it or not that is exactly what has happened. Widowed Georgina Simms from Gossport, who is nearly deaf, has received an anti-social behaviour order after playing her Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra records too loudly.
Mrs Simms, who has the hearing condition tinnitus, which causes her to hear things that aren’t there, was reported by neighbours Chris and Tony Adams, who claimed:
“It was absolute hell, it made us ill” – a little harsh maybe, this isn’t Jedward we’re talking about, but I digress. In court, Mrs Simms, who had already received a noise abatement order, admitted to flouting it. She was given a six month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £500 costs.
If you ask me, this is another case of Britain gone mad. After all, she was only playing it at a level that enabled her to hear it. Was it really necessary to involve the authorities, what if her neighbours who were made that “ill” by it had offered to go halves on some sound proofing? Problem solved. I’ll bet this time next week she’ll be decked out in the latest kappa tracksuit, blinged up and shouting “Yo homie!” at the other grannies down the bingo.
