14 DAY TRIAL // Even if “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King is one of the most famous moments in history, calling for a greater world and an end to racism, hearing it repeatedly from your old neighbor's loud equipment may drive some to take unorthodox measures in order to just make it stop.
Norman Thompson has been listening to the speech over and over again, driving his neighbors crazy and ignoring warnings or complaints. The “I Have a Dream” nightmare for the Leek residents living in the same building with Mr. Thompson became unbearable and officials were constantly asked to do something about it.
Talking about neighbors from hell, besides the famous speech, the senior resident used to anger neighbors with Christmas carols, in the middle of summer. The council decided to take measures after seeing that no threats or solicitations would work with the 68-year-old noisy man, so they confiscated all of his hi-fi equipment. The officers took 19 items including his radios, speakers and television, The Stoke Sentinel notes.
Under the Environmental Protection Act, the Housing Association and the District Council decided to teach the man a lesson by taking his belongings for at least 28 days. To the delight of the building's residents, the man doesn't have any gadgets to play the 1963 speech anymore.
“Since they've taken away his music it's been completely different. I think a lot of it was Martin Luther King's speech. We used to hear all these civil rights speeches. Then in the middle of the summer he would open all his windows and doors and play Christmas carols,” Thomas Bettany, a 84-year-old neighbor said, according to The Stoke Sentinel.
Most of the building's residents were seniors as well and the constant loud noise was annoying and very hard to endure. Yet, the Martin Luther King fan has a different opinion on the matter and believes that the whole story is a conspiracy to get him evicted. “I went to Farm Foods to get some bacon and when I came back all the equipment was gone […] I didn't play music at night. I have made a home here out of a hovel,” Mr. Thompson said.
The upset man warned the officials that if any of his equipment comes back damaged, he would make sure to sue them for everything they have. The confiscated equipment will be returned in 28 days only if the old man will pay a fine that would cover the costs of storage and law enforcement actions.