A 70-year-old farmer from Kortessem (Limburg) was sentenced on Wednesday to 80 hours' community service by the Tongeren magistrates court for systematically disrupting rooster-crowing competitions organised by his neighbours, who run a café.
The long-standing dispute had raged since 2014 as the septuagenarian tried to stop the events that sometimes gathered around 100 roosters for contests that typically involve seeing which bird can crow the most in a set period of time.
The disgruntled neighbour took matters into his own hands by disrupting procedures by shooting at a metal plate with a shotgun or driving his tractor. On several occasions over the years, police have been called to the site.
The feud has also carried on in courtrooms, with the farmer saying that his family no longer comes to visit him because of the noise of the birds. Belgian law forbids noisy domestic or professional activities on public holidays and Sundays.
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On this occasion the court penalised the farmer (this time the accused) for his efforts to sabotage the competitions after the post-covid resumption of the contests.
In his defence, the farmer argued that "buildings over twenty metres long have been built on adjacent land to organise the competitions. These competitions are also accompanied by betting. This is a violation of the law on games of chance."
However, the court recognised that the irascible pensioner had deliberately sought to disrupt the activities of his neighbours, who were claiming €2,500 in damages. As they were unable to prove their loss, they will have to make do with compensation of €300.
