Rihanna fans who wouldn’t stop the music fined for noise

Sean Brough, 27, and Lyndsey Smith, 28, were prosecuted after noise enforcement officers caught them playing the Barbadian singer’s hits, which include Please Don’t Stop the Music, Umbrella and We Found Love, too loudly after midnight despite repeated warnings.

The couple had refused to listen to complaints from their next-door neighbours, who are in their late 50s, and found themselves in court on Friday last week. York magistrates heard that noise enforcement officers repeatedly told the pair to keep the noise down in their terrace home in York over an eight-month period.

Anthony Dean, for York Council, told the court that, after midnight on November 27, a noise patrol heard 30 minutes of music so loud they declared it was impossible for anyone to sleep or rest in the neighbouring property. But the Rihanna fans, who include their three boys, Kailam, 11, and twins, Reagan and Kean, both six, have defended their actions.

Self-employed bricklayer Mr Brough said: “We do listen to other music but Rihanna is our favourite.

“She has such a great range of music and she has had several albums out since she came on the scene, all of them good. Of course there is the added bonus of her being very hot. Even our Kailam loves her.”

The couple admit they are a little obsessed with Rihanna, a winner at this year’s Brit Awards. 

Mr Brough added: “More than anything we’d like to see Rihanna live, but we’ll never afford it now.”

The couple pleaded guilty to breaching a noise abatement notice and were each ordered to pay £350, a £15 victim surcharge and £250 towards prosecution costs – a total of £1,215. Their stereo was also confiscated.