A North Vancouver couple who were found responsible for drilling holes into their neighbours’ tree and poisoning it have been ordered by a judge to pay $25,000 in damages.
North Vancouver provincial court Judge Joanne Challenger found Alfred and Gissell Jakob of Dollar Road in North Vancouver responsible for drilling holes into the trunk of a large western red cedar on their neighbours’ property on Fairway Drive and applying “a still unknown toxic substance to the tree through the holes”, causing the tree to decline.
“They intentionally destroyed the property of their neighbour,” Challenger wrote in her decision.
Prior to that, the Jakobs had been trying to convince neighbours Ian and Andrea Bowbrick to cut the 60-year-old tree down because it shaded the Jakobs’ pool area.
As part of their defence in the court case, the Jakobs claimed the 20-metre-tall tree was actually on their property. But a property survey paid for by the Bowbricks showed that wasn’t true, noted Challenger.
She added the Jakobs continue to deny being responsible for harming the tree.
For the Bowbricks, the tree was a focal point in their backyard and “is the only sizable conifer in the area,” Challenger noted.
“Like many, the Bowbricks had an emotional attachment to the tree due to its beauty,” the judge wrote.
The tree was healthy prior to being interfered with, the judge added.
But in the early spring of 2014, the Bowbricks noticed a chemical odour in their backyard, the judge wrote in her reasons for judgment. They also saw “what appeared to be … some kind of oily substance on the trunk of the tree facing into their yard.”
An arborist consulted by the couple said the die-off was “inconsistent with natural causes” and was the result of tampering.
The arborist found two holes drilled in the trunk of the tree. Alfred Jakob later admitted he had drilled the holes but said he did it to try to anchor a support for his fence. That explanation, however, was rejected by the judge, who found on the balance of probabilities that Jakob had deliberately tried to damage the tree.
The judge noted after the toxic substance was applied to the tree, it began to die above the drill holes.
A recent arborist’s assessment found the tree had lost 40 per cent of its canopy since June 2014. As the tree will likely become a hazard, an arborist recommended it be cut down.
The judge wrote the actions of the Jakobs had destroyed the Bowbricks’ feeling of “neighbourly trust.”
The Bowbricks were also concerned that whatever had been applied to the tree might have contaminated a food garden in the back yard.
The judge wrote that is a reasonable concern given the pattern of plant dieback in the backyard.
The judge wrote that she would have ordered the Jakobs to pay $31,000, including almost $19,000 for the value of the tree plus $7,500 as punishment for their actions and almost $4,700 for the costs of removing and replacing the dead tree.
But since small claims court only has a jurisdiction of up to $25,000 in damages, Challenger lowered the amount.
She also ordered the Jakobs to pay the Bowbricks over $3,900 for costs related to the court case.
