A police officer at war with her neighbours washed dog faeces and urine into their garden and then sprayed them with water from a hosepipe as part of a bitter planning row, can reveal.
Mel Chinn, a former Metropolitan Police detective sergeant, inflicted ‘torture’ on her neighbours by directing waste from her Rhodesian ridgeback puppy onto her neighbour’s patio on 19 separate occasions between March to September 2022.
Ms Chinn, who has since quit the force, was found guilty of gross misconduct by a police disciplinary panel which heard the allegations against her as she was a serving police officer when the offences took place.
The panel heard that Ms Chinn and her partner Darren Fishley became embroiled in a dispute with their neighbours Chloe Baldwin and Owain Walcroft after building a ground floor extension to their £600,000 semi-detached home.
It also involved the raising of a side passageway between the two properties by 13 inches.
But relations between the two couples deteriorated even further after Ms Chinn purchased a puppy in late 2021 and placed a dog crate in the new side area for it to go to the toilet.
With the couples at loggerheads, Ms Chinn was accused of deliberately directing its excrement and urine under a wooden fence into her neighbour’s garden.
She was also accused of dousing the couple on three separate occasions in May 2022 with water when they complained about the smell and flies caused by dog toilet on their property.
On one occasion in May 2022, Ms Baldwin revealed that the smell from urine had become ‘very bad’ and that flies had started gathering.
As she began to wash her side of the fence, she complained to Ms Chinn that this was ‘unhygienic’ but only heard her singing.
Ms Baldwin was then doused with water by the former detective.
In another incident, Mr Walcroft, who works as a manager at a telecommunications company, revealed how he was met with a ‘jet stream of water’ after he complained about the smell of dog urine as he attempted to wash it away.
Ms Baldwin and Mr Walcroft were referred to as Ms A and Mr B respectively during the hearing.
He described Ms Chinn’s conduct as being ‘like Chinese water torture which was continually going on’ and a deliberate attempt to antagonise them.
His partner claimed that she felt the need to be constantly ‘on guard’ and was always on edge.
The couple moved into their home in 2017 which they purchased for close to £680,000 and have two young children.
In addition to a dispute over Ms Chinn’s extension there was also disagreement between them over the boundary fence between their properties, with both claiming ownership, which further strained relations.
Ms Chinn was also found to have launched a volley of verbal abuse against Ms Baldwin during the dog incidents, calling her ‘unhinged’ and saying that she should have a mental health assessment while also criticising her parenting skills.
In one row from April 2022, which was captured on video, Ms Chinn is heard saying: ‘There’s something really cathartic about this, cleaning away the p*ss and cleaning away the s**t. It makes me feel good.’
In a statement, Ms Chinn claimed that this was her commenting about keeping her garden clean and was ‘banter’ with her partner.
But the panel did not believe her and stated: ‘By this time, it was most likely that she (Ms Chinn) was aware that there was unpleasant seepage onto next door whenever they washed down the side area.’
Ms Baldwin also recounted details of how a birthday party in her garden had been ruined in June 2022, causing guests to leave the patio, after she noticed the hose ‘start next door’ which was followed by the smell of dog urine.
The police disciplinary panel criticised Ms Chinn for failing to accept her ‘wrongdoing’ and for not apologising for the ‘distress she has caused.’
It stated: ‘Former DS Chinn was an experienced officer of a level of seniority, and she ought to have known better than to act in the way she did.’
It found her conduct to be ‘intentional’ and ‘targeted’ and concluded: ‘The Panel has found that this misconduct has the potential to cause reputational damage and to harm the trust which must exist between police and public. People do not want to see officers participating in conduct such as this.’
The panel also concluded that had Ms Chinn remained in the Metropolitan Police then ‘dismissal would have been justified.’
Ms Chinn denied the allegations and refused to comment when attempted to speak to her at her home.
She also refused to attend the disciplinary hearing, but an email sent to explain her absence blamed a ‘lack of support from the police in the years leading up to this hearing.’
She added: ‘My neighbours have reported false allegations about me. The whole situation has left me feeling powerless and very isolated and the only way to regain some sense of autonomy was to dissociate from the situation and focus on my family.’
Ms Baldwin told : ‘We are not entirely satisfied with the outcome (of the hearing). There’s a lot more to this story.’