A neighbour from hell who tore the roof off the home of the people living next door in a war over a garden fence has been released from prison after serving just three months of a four and a half year sentence.
Mark Coates, 57, was branded a ‘human wrecking ball’ by a judge after he tore the tiles and chimney pots off his £450,000 home before throwing them to the ground.
After he had finished destroyed his own roof he moved over to his neighbours and began demolishing their property.
The wrecking spree was the culmination of a bitter seven year boundary dispute over the location of a garden fence.
In March, Coates who was dubbed ‘Britain’s worst neighbour’, was sentenced to four years and four months behind bars after he was found guilty of causing more than £200,000 of damage to the homes.
But now Coates, a father-of-five, has been freed under the Government’s controversial early release scheme.
His victims, David Greenwood, 70, and Janice Turner, 66, claim their lives were made ‘hell’ by Coates and say they are now ‘living in fear’ and ‘have lost all faith’ in the British justice system.
Coates, who vowed in court never to stop pursuing the case, is living with his family just a few miles away from the pair.
The couple said the move made a ‘complete mockery of the British justice system’ and had put enormous stress on them.
Mr Greenwood, a mechanic, said the early release scheme, introduced by the Government last year to ease pressure on prisons, was a charter which favoured criminals over their victims.
‘It’s an absolute farce,’ he said. ‘This wasn’t some piffling sentence for shoplifting. This was a serious crime which wrecked our home in an attempt to totally destroy our lives.
‘It’s a disgrace he has been freed from prison. We are devastated and it has put enormous stress on us.
‘He is under a curfew at night but we live in fear of what he might do during the day. It’s taking a huge toll on us.
‘The early release scheme is a move that favours criminals over their victims and completely undermines the authority of UK courts.
‘It’s absolutely ridiculous. Why would the Crown Prosecution Service and the police bother to bring cases against criminals if they’re just going to be freed?’
Coates was sentenced to four years and four months behind bars at Lewes Crown Court in March.
After a trial he was found guilty of two counts of criminal damage where he caused £200,000 worth of damage to the two properties in Robertsbridge, near Hastings, East Sussex in June 2024.
The 57-year-old father-of-five smashed a hole through the roof of his semi-detached home before clambering out.
He then began tearing off the tiles and chimney pots off the £400,000 home before throwing them to the ground.
When he had largely destroyed his own roof he moved over to his neighbours’ home and began tearing the tiles from their home.
Ms Turner, 66, called police but was left crying in the garden as she watched Coates start to demolish her home.
Video of the incident, captured by police, showed Coates armed with a hammer methodically smashing up the roof of both homes.
A two hour police stand-off ensued before Coates was finally arrested and taken into custody.
Residents living close to the victims said the dispute had had a massive effect on the whole community and branded Coates ‘one of the worst neighbours in Britain.’
Sentencing him, Recorder Ben Williams KC sentenced Coates said the destruction of the two homes was a clear ‘revenge attack’ on his neighbours.
He said Coates had fallen on the houses ‘like a human wrecking ball’ which had left the couple upset and traumatised.
The incident happened on June 10 last year and brought to an end the long-running dispute between the neighbours which started when a fence panel fell down.
When a new fence separating their two gardens was erected the two neighbours disagreed over where the boundary was.
Lewes Crown Court heard that, after years of litigation, the case had eventually gone to the High Court.
The warring neighbours had been warned by High Court judge, Mr Justice Morgan, that persisting in the row could result in financial ruin for one or both of them before a ruling was made against Coates.
Coates was found in contempt of the High Court, handed a £475,000 court bill and was ordered to sell his home to pay for the huge sum.
As a result his property was to be sold to reimburse the victims’ legal fees as well as to pay for the damage caused to their property.
But just three days before he was due to hand over the house keys, Coates decided to cause massive damage to the properties.
Ms Turner said Coates smashed most of the tiles off his own roof before clambering onto her roof and starting the same.
She said: ‘He was picking some of them up and throwing them into the garden and towards me. I was standing by my greenhouse and I felt debris from the roof go past my face.’
She said when the hole was big enough to climb through Coates clambered out onto the roof.
The 66-year-old added: ‘He completely removed the best part of the roof at the rear of my property.’
A video, captured from a police body-worn camera, shows officers trying to reason with Coates and coax him down from the roof.
But he told officers: ‘I’ve had this house stolen off me by a judge and corrupt police. I’ll cause as much damage as I can to devalue the house.’
He told officers his aim was to cause as much damage as possible to ensure a jury trial in crown court where he said he would expose ‘corrupt’ officials who had fraudulently deprived him of his home.
In mitigation Richard Body, defending, said Coates was a dedicated family man who had a previous good character.
He said: ‘However he has an aspect of his character that is stubborn which is how he has got himself into this very unfortunate position.’
Coates, who was cleared of two counts of causing fear of violence or harassment, was handed an indefinite restraining order not to approach the victims.
In September 2024 – three months after the attack – Coates was jailed for 16 months for contempt of the High Court which had to be served separately to the criminal conviction.
Mr Greenwood said: ‘Mr Coates was also serving a sentence of 448 days in prison for civil contempt and was not due to be released from that sentence until December 2025.
‘He was then due to start his criminal sentence so should still be in prison. Remission and the early release scheme do not apply to sentences for breaches of orders of the civil courts.’
He believes the release of Mr Coates from prison is unlawful.
He said: ‘He has served just a fraction of his civil sentence and none of his criminal sentence. It’s a total joke. No one – neither the police, courts or prisons – seem to know what they’re doing.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘Offenders released on Home Detention Curfew are subject to strict conditions and will be sent back to prison if they break the rules.’
