'I would rather go to prison than take down my garden fence' - Alderney father
AN Alderney father vowed he would go to prison rather than endanger his two-year-old's life by taking down his garden fence.
Builder Simon Benfield, 31, who was found guilty of flouting a States notice to dismantle or take panels out of the boundary, was fined £25 by Jurats for disobeying the notice.
The saga started when Mr Benfield obtained planning permission from the Building Development and Control Committee in September 2012 to erect a fence around his garden, which stands elevated more than a metre from the tarmac of Longis Road on top of a dry stone wall.
But his request for a closed-panel fence was refused, with the BDCC saying it would be 'visually obtrusive' and out of keeping with the semi-rural tone of the area.
Matters came to a head one Sunday in May, he said, when his daughter Evelyn fell onto the road, fortunately landing on her knees.
