A family feud turned toxic after a father was caught on camera dousing his son’s garden with salt in a poisonous act of revenge, a court has heard.
David Hawkins, 66, was filmed repeatedly pouring salt over bushes and flowerbeds outside the home of his son Luke, 43, in Drayton, Norfolk.
He was also heard shouting abuse at the property, calling it ‘the house of the w*****’.
The pair, who lived at opposite ends of the same quiet cul-de-sac, had once run a plumbing and property development firm together, according to Companies House records. But their working relationship collapsed in 2019 after David took time off due to ill health.
When he returned, he accused his son of spending company funds on home improvements instead of reinvesting in the business. The row left their relationship in tatters, with Hawkins resigning as a director of Hawkins Partnership Ltd later that year.
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Norwich Magistrates’ Court heard Hawkins began targeting Luke’s garden in 2023, pouring salt over bushes and flowerbeds.
Prosecutor Sarah Fiddy said the acts were deliberate and repeated, and that Hawkins even made sure to shout obscenities directly at his son’s CCTV cameras knowing it would be seen.
Footage showed him walking past the house on dog walks before carrying out the damage.
Defence solicitor Chris Brown said: ‘It’s fair to say father and son fell out spectacularly. He has to go past his son’s property in order to walk his dogs and he let that opportunity get the better of him. He acted like an idiot.’
Hawkins, of Magnay Road, pleaded guilty of harassment and criminal damage. Magistrates fined him £197 and ordered him to pay £600 compensation for the ruined plants.
However, they declined a prosecution application for a restraining order saying they did not feel in the circumstances it was ‘proportionate or necessary’.
Both father and son declined to comment outside court after the hearing on August 15.
The case has left neighbours in the cul-de-sac stunned, with one resident describing the saga as ‘like something off the telly’.
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