Rachel O'Connor asks gonnae shut the fuck up, I'm trying to sleep!

Dear All

Get a group of guys together and the conversation covers a wide range of topics from football, world affairs, politics and finally stories about sex.

In regional dialect ‘banging the arse off someone’!

Of course this sex stuff is a serious business among groups of guys.

One of the aspects of sex which is sometimes covered is the noises people make in the throes of passion.

Newcastle Crown Court was the setting of a hearing into Caroline and Steve Cartwright's love making practices.

Next door neighbour Rachel O'Connor has told the court she isn’t happy about the love making.

She said;

"It is not very pleasant living there and it has been quite stressful. The noise sounds like they are both in considerable pain. I cannot describe the noise. I have never ever heard anything like it."

This has caused Ms. Connor to be late for work because she overslept having been up most of the night because of the noise.

So the court was played a 10 minute tape recording of the Wearside couple who having nightly sex sessions that have ruined the lives of neighbours.

Sunderland City Council recorded noise levels of between 30 to 40 decibels, with the highest being 47 decibels.

Perhaps there was a crowd watching the event, did Ms. Connor ever consider that or a jet aircraft taking off and landing?

So, Mrs Cartwright, 48, from Washington is now appealing against a conviction for breaching a noise abatement notice against the couple.

She is issuing Article 8 of the Human Rights Act to argue she has a right to "respect for her private and family life".

It is true she has the right to a private and family life but she breaches this by shouting her head off so the act doesn’t apply because in order to exercise her ‘rights’, she breaches the rights of another.

Mrs Cartwright said;

"After I got the Noise Abatement Notice I tried to control it. I even tried to use a pillow (over her face) to try and lessen the noise”.

Since the problem is a matter of timing, couldn’t a solution be to have it off during the day but not around meal times as people need peace to enjoy their dinner.

Mrs Cartwright added;

"I did not understand why people asked me to be quiet because to me it is normal. I didn't understand where they were coming from."

A bit more education would solve that problem methinks!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University