Man with hoe tells party to keep it down

A man in Paphos was briefly detained on Sunday after he reportedly grabbed a garden hoe and walked into a backyard birthday party to demand that music be turned down.

According to police, a 43-year-old male suspect drove up to a residence in Paphos five minutes after midnight and walked into a backyard, where an extended family was celebrating the birthday of the lady of the house.

Local media said the man, described as a Greek Cypriot neighbor, showed up with a garden hoe in his hand and demanded that the music be turned down.

According to the 26-year-old complainant, also described as a Greek Cypriot male, the intruder proceeded to use offensive language against the host and then left the area. The Cyprus News Agency reported that profanity and expletives were used during the exchange. 

Police told Knews the suspect was later apprehended based on a description of his vehicle license plates. He was then taken to a local station where he was said to have admitted crashing the party.

Investigators also said they found a full-length garden hoe in the trunk of the suspect’s vehicle.

Paphos police are investigating the incident while the suspect could be facing multiple charges including threat of violence, illegal possession of an offensive instrument, and trespassing.

Police also clarified there was no specific cutoff time where noise level escalate to a disturbance case, saying noise reaching beyond one’s property could be construed as noise pollution.

The complaint was made at 12:25am, with the incident allegedly taking place at 12:05am, police said, adding there were no other offences under investigation such as heatlh law violations.

Police did not say whether any noise complaint had been filed before midnight regarding the residence in question.