This is the shocking moment an enraged man shoves his elderly neighbour as she tries to get into her flat when an ongoing dispute between the two boils over.
Video doorbell footage shows an irate Michael Tayler emerging from his front door just as pensioner Julia Wermig-Morgan returns to her flat opposite.
Tayler, 55, aggressively approached Ms Wermig-Morgan, 70 before yelling at her ‘what are you doing now?’ and ‘get out of my sight,’ and then violently pushed the frail pensioner as she attempts to get in her own front door.
The ‘frightening’ incident occurred at a block of flats in Burton Bradstock, Dorset, on May 20 this year and was the culmination of a long running dispute between the neighbours which has resulted in each of them being issued with restraining orders against each other.
Weymouth Magistrates Court heard that Ms Wermig-Morgan, a psychotherapist and Oxford University postgraduate, dislikes her neighbour and that Tayler ‘positively loathes her.’
The pair had made complaints about each other to authorities in the past, with Ms Wermig-Morgan accusing her neighbour of being a ‘drug dealer’ who wanted to ‘take over’ the block of flats in which they live. Tayler, who is unemployed, has denied the claims.
Relations between the two are believed to have turned sour soon after he moved into his housing association flat opposite Ms Wermig-Morgan just over three years ago. She owns her one-bedroom property, which is worth around £200,000.
Following a number of earlier incidents, she claimed: ‘He has rages. I called 999 before when he was trying to break down my door, but the police didn’t come for 30 hours and when they did, they didn’t take a statement.
‘He tried to tell them that I was harassing him. He is 6ft 4ins and 18 stones and I am 5ft 4ins and disabled but I stand up to him.’
Without producing any evidence, she alleged: ‘What he shouts and screams at me is ‘you don’t obey me.’ He has threatened to kill me before so it’s bloody terrifying. He wants me to have to move because I know he is a dealer and because he wants control of the building.’
In the latest incident captured by the video doorbell, the court heard that the attack on Ms Wermig-Morgan was completely unprovoked and unnecessary by Tayler who was watching his neighbour return through the spyhole of his front door.
The court was told that the neighbours live on the same landing with their front doors facing each other and that Ms Wermig-Morgan was already subject of an earlier restraining order instructing her to keep away from Tayler, which she had adhered to.
Charles Nightingale, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant’s immediate neighbour is Julia Wermig-Morgan. The two have a fraught relationship, each has made complaints about the other, both of them with success.’
Ms Wermig-Morgan is subject to a restraining order for her conduct in relation to Mr Tayler. She dislikes the defendant, and he positively loathes her.’
Referring to the incident, he added: ‘It would be best if they ignored each other, but the defendant simply failed to do so on May 20.
‘Ms Wermig-Morgan came in from the outside area. The incident commenced by him coming out of his property. He has a spyhole in the middle of his door. He was either waiting, looking through the spy hole, or he happened to look through and decided to have a confrontation rather than avoid it.
‘She has done nothing to cause this incident. She’s an older lady and feels her life is being made a misery by the defendant. She has complied with the order against her and wishes the defendant would just leave her alone. They should both be capable of ignoring each other.’
Simon Lacey, defending Tayler, said: ‘This dislike is one that has been going on for some time. Mr Tayler says he doesn’t loathe this lady, he wants to help her but as you can see things are not going well.
‘He feels that she is the cause of all the problems, she probably has an opposite view of him. He seems to have come to the end of his tether, he’s gone out and she’s just coming back in and he pushes her as we have seen.
‘A wiser person would have avoided and ignored her. This is a neighbour issue. They need to avoid each other so things don’t get out of hand again.’
Following the hearing on December 20, Tayler was issued with a 12-month restraining order by magistrate Tobert Ford, who warned him that he should avoid his neighbour in future or could face being sent to jail.
Mr Ford said: ‘If you both come out your doors at the same time, your solution is simple – you go back inside or you pass her without making any contact.
‘If you breach that restraining order in any way, shape or form, we would anticipate that you would go straight to jail. Have nothing to do with her whatsoever.’
Tayler was also given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £26 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.
Afterwards, Ms Wermig-Morgan said she was ‘absolutely furious’ Tayler had been ‘let off’.
She said: ‘He is a thug and what he did was bloody terrifying. They have let him off lightly. I am absolutely furious.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
