Advice regarding trespassers.

FishCustard

Hi all.

I've registered here specifically to ask this question so I absolutely apologise for if I have this in the wrong section.

People have been climbing over the side gate of my house and using my back garden as a thoroughfare. I live in a heavily populated area and I share the walls of my back garden with four other houses. As the two rows of houses behind mine is a cul de sac, people will often use my garden as a shortcut.

This began a few years ago when neighbours would be using the long back wall that runs along the whole terrace of houses as a path to get to either a friend's house or out on to the main estate. (To put in to context how long this communal wall is, it has often also been employed as a getaway system from Garda raids and gang fights as it leads right through the middle of the estate, from one end to the other with many houses with side entrances along the way). In the last year or so, people have decided that coming through my back garden is much easier than walking the full length of the wall.

What are my options, totally legally of course, to deter any trespassers? I've already fixed trellising on my section of the back wall to stop people coming in from that way, but it was knocked down.

My main worry here is that I have two dogs and a cat that roam around the gardens. They never leave our front or back gardens and are very friendly, but will always bark when someone either comes in off the back wall or climbs over the gate. They would never bite anyone in a million years because they're so friendly, and I just don't want them injured because someone mistakes them as vicious. As for the cat, she hisses at strangers because she's so old and I have the same concerns.

I have considered the anti-climbing paint as an option, but my cat (and many other neighbourhood cats, as well as wild birds) will use the walls and fences regularly and I don't want them to get injured or distressed for any reason.

My neighbours don't particularly enjoy speaking to me so I can't ask them if they've encountered similar problems, and the Gardaí have said they can't do anything unless we find absolute proof, but CCTV isn't a plan as several of my neighbours' properties have been damaged as a result of using CCTV.

Can anyone help me? Or am I doomed?

RangeR

FishCustard wrote: »

Hi all.

I've registered here specifically to ask this question so I absolutely apologise for if I have this in the wrong section.

People have been climbing over the side gate of my house and using my back garden as a thoroughfare. I live in a heavily populated area and I share the walls of my back garden with four other houses. As the two rows of houses behind mine is a cul de sac, people will often use my garden as a shortcut.

This began a few years ago when neighbours would be using the long back wall that runs along the whole terrace of houses as a path to get to either a friend's house or out on to the main estate. (To put in to context how long this communal wall is, it has often also been employed as a getaway system from Garda raids and gang fights as it leads right through the middle of the estate, from one end to the other with many houses with side entrances along the way). In the last year or so, people have decided that coming through my back garden is much easier than walking the full length of the wall.

What are my options, totally legally of course, to deter any trespassers? I've already fixed trellising on my section of the back wall to stop people coming in from that way, but it was knocked down.

My main worry here is that I have two dogs and a cat that roam around the gardens. They never leave our front or back gardens and are very friendly, but will always bark when someone either comes in off the back wall or climbs over the gate. They would never bite anyone in a million years because they're so friendly, and I just don't want them injured because someone mistakes them as vicious. As for the cat, she hisses at strangers because she's so old and I have the same concerns.

I have considered the anti-climbing paint as an option, but my cat (and many other neighbourhood cats, as well as wild birds) will use the walls and fences regularly and I don't want them to get injured or distressed for any reason.

My neighbours don't particularly enjoy speaking to me so I can't ask them if they've encountered similar problems, and the Gardaí have said they can't do anything unless we find absolute proof, but CCTV isn't a plan as several of my neighbours' properties have been damaged as a result of using CCTV.

Can anyone help me? Or am I doomed?

Webcam inside a window, pointing to your garden. This will give you proof while still not advertising the fact that there is a camera there.

Might be liable to legal liabilities if you point your camera anywhere other than your garden.

jblack

Could you petition your local councillor to provide better access for those looking for thoroughfare?

There are physical measures you can use but it will be expensive and possibly end up in your own property being damaged.

Before someone suggests putting lions and tigers in your garden or using razor wire, be mindful of your duty to even those trespassing on your property.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1995/en/act/pub/0010/sec0004.html#sec4