Court case[1936] 2 KB 468

The plaintiff company bred silver foxes on its land. Vixens are extremely nervous during the breeding season, and if disturbed may refuse to breed, miscarry or kill their young. The defendant, a neighbouring landowner who objected to a notice board the company had put up, which he thought would harm the development of his own land, threatened to stop the breeding and then caused his son to fire guns on his own land near the boundary during the breeding season, with the intention of frightening the vixens. As a result the breeding was seriously affected.

Macnaghten J. held the defendant liable in nuisance and granted an injunction and damages. Although a man may ordinarily shoot on his own land, the noise here was made maliciously, with the intention of injuring the plaintiff's business, and that intention made the shooting an unreasonable use of the defendant's land. The judge declined to follow the reasoning that Bradford Corporation v. Pickles made motive always irrelevant, holding that in nuisance by noise the intention of the defendant is relevant to whether the interference is actionable, following Christie v. Davey.