A noisy neighbour from hell who forced a couple to go on weekends away to get a good night’s sleep has narrowly avoided jail.

Raymond Putt, 68, deliberately banged on the walls and floor of his Worcester Park home with a wooden stick late at night over a four-month period, putting his neighbours through “significant turmoil”.

Magistrates slapped the pensioner with a suspended prison sentence today after he was found guilty of harassment.

Croydon Magistrates’ Court heard that between September 2 last year and January 11 this year Putt repeatedly banged on the floors and walls of his home, causing his neighbour Sally Steggle and her partner to become so stressed they fell ill.

Putt’s neighbour, an ex-police officer, recorded the banging and called the police.

After officers visited Putt in November he claimed the noise was “tit for tat” and said the couple had also been loud. But he was warned by the police and ordered to stop.

The court heard he then ceased the banging for six to seven weeks and Ms Streggle was “finally able to relax”. However, in January the noise resumed and Putt was arrested.

In a statement read out in court by prosecutor Ross Waredall, Miss Streggle said: “Myself and my partner have been made very upset by this banging and it has caused me to feel run-down and develop an infection. My partner has chest pain and the GP say it is related to stress.

“At 1am and 2am we are awake wondering if he will start again. We tend to make weekend arrangements away just to get a decent night’s sleep.

“We are constantly worried whether this harassment will end as he ignores the warnings given to him by the police and the council.”

Putt denied a charge of harassment without violence but was found guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on June 10.

At a sentencing hearing today Putt’s lawyer, Mohamed Sourbah, claimed his neighbours had a “hidden agenda” and had been “on a mission” to “bring him down”.

He said: “[Putt] lives alone and has lived in his home for 28 years. The victim was on a mission and recorded this - the banging- from the first night they were recording the noise.

“It seems like she had a hidden agenda that she recorded this noise. She is an ex-police officer and used her skills to bring him – Mr Putt - down with the recording. She is a clever victim, but at the end of the day the result lies with the court.”

Asking magistrates to spare Putt a jail term, the lawyer added: “Mr Putt suffers from health problems. He has hypertension and takes medication and it seems he would not be suitable for a custodial sentence.”

Presiding magistrate Richard Gould told Putt: “This is a serious offence and we believe that a custodial sentence is appropriate and so we are sending you to prison for six weeks and that is to make clear that this is a serious offence. The evidence against you is significant and you put the victim through significant turmoil.

“However, we will suspend the sentence for 12 months. You have one chance to abide by the sentence, or you will go to prison. Do you understand?”

Putt replied: “Yes.”

He was also handed a community order and a 12-month rehabilitation order.