At the end of his tether, Malcolm Smithson kicked out at ornamental garden owls at a neighbour’s home and then hurled a stone and damaged a door at another, magistrates were told.

Smithson, of Bracken Bank Crescent, Keighley, said he was getting back at them because his disabled mother had been threatened and their own home damaged. The 23-year-old pleaded guilty at Bingley Court last week to two counts of criminal damage on September 28 and was sentenced to 12 months’ community service.

The bench heard that he was being treated for depression and was on medication but had deteriorated in September and not sought help. Amjid Khan, for Smithson, said: “It was a combination of drink and not taking his medication and the fact he felt aggrieved at how his neighbours had behaved towards his mother.”