Dad forced to have finger amputated after nightmare neighbour BIT it off in row over fence and hedge
Brian Johnston’s digit was severed by James Keir at the climax of a six-year dispute
A DAD was forced to have his finger amputated after a nightmare neighbour BIT it off in row over a FENCE.
Brian Johnston’s digit was severed by James Keir at the climax of a wide-ranging six-year dispute that also took in disagreements over a shared driveway and a hedge.
Johnston, who also suffered a fractured jaw and multiple fractures to his eye socket, said his lost finger was recovered by police dogs a day later.
However, it was too late for doctors to reattach it, and instead they amputated further.
The warring pair fell out after Johnston grew tired of Keir’s extensive renovations to his 26-room mansion, in Reddingmuirhead, Falkirk, which he named Brigadoon. The mansion included an indoor tennis court, a swimming pool, a snooker room and cinema.
Kier was later cleared of serious assault after claiming self-defence.
Talking about the recovery of his severed digit on Channel 5’s The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door, Johnston said: “The police found it and told me basically they couldn’t do anything with it. Dead.
“The day after the assault I had to go to First Valley Hospital and get an operation to partially amputate the finger back to the bone, there is nothing worse than sitting listening to someone crunching back the bone of your finger when you’re in severe pain.”
Keir, 59, was charged with serious assault after the fight, however, a jury found him not guilty in just 15 minutes after a two-day trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court in May this year.
Keir told the court the teenage boyfriend of Johnston’s daughter ran up and put him in a “choke hold” before Johnston tried to “gouge his eyes out”.
Keir said Johnston’s index finger on his left hand “slipped” into his mouth and he bit it.
But instrument technician Johnston told the jury there was a “frenzied all-out assault” on him.
He said: “My hand got on to Mr Keir’s face and he clamped onto my index finger with his teeth.”
The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.
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