AN ARMY officer used a covert camera to catch his neighbour in the act of sabotaging his swimming pool.

Stephen Gee, 63, crept into Jason Little's garden to damage the outdoor pool with a blade after a four-year row over noise.

A court heard Gee, a retired aircraft engineer, had become annoyed by the sounds of Mr Little's children as they played.

He slashed a hole in the metal wall of the pool, causing 4,000 litres of water to spill out.

However, Mr Little, a decorated army major, had installed a hidden CCTV camera on his property. He discovered footage of Gee tiptoeing up the garden path at 4.30am on June 19 2016.

Gee has now been convicted of criminal damage following a trial.

A district judge sitting at Poole Magistrates' Court heard Mr Little and his wife had been away at the time of the incident. They returned to their home to discover their garden was flooded and the pool was empty.

Gee had left a note in Mr Little's porch, in which he explained he had woken during the night to the sound of flowing water.

However, the victim became suspicious and contacted police.

Mr Little, who won the military cross for displaying inspirational leadership in battle in 2008, moved into the large detached house in Puxey, North Dorset in 2012.

The 10 metre swimming pool was already installed. However, his new neighbours quickly began to complain about the noise when Mr Little's children used it.

The victim, 46, told the court: "Almost immediately they seemed to take offence to the fact we have children and the children make noise.

"Whenever they used the swimming pool, they shouted over the fence at them and would play loud music and stare at them.

"Before we had CCTV things happened to the swimming pool that I couldn't explain, so we had cameras installed to the rear of the property."

The court heard it appeared as if the pool had been struck with an axe blade.

The cost of the damage ran to £1,500.

Gee, who has no previous convictions, was fined £500 and ordered to pay £650 prosecution costs and £250 compensation to Mr Little.

He has also been issued with a restraining order which bars him from contacting the Littles for five years.

Speaking after the case, Mr Little said: "He said many times they were going to force us to leave.

"We made complaints but the problem with disputes is it's often one word against the other so it's very hard to prove.

"This has always been an issue since we moved in but now we had some evidence that could be used.

"I'm just relieved the judge gave him a restraining order and he won't be able to make nasty comments to my family anymore."