Single mum Gemma Walker made headlines last week when she was fined for disturbing neighbours with her raucous sex sessions.
The saucy 31 year old was recorded making loud whoops during sex by neighbours Ian and Susan Nicholls, who claimed they suffered stress and sleepless nights as a result of Gemma’s vigorous love life.
Gemma – who has two children aged nine and 13 from a previous relationship – was also recorded playing loud music, shouting and arguing, and was fined for her rowdy behaviour. But she claims she’s a responsible member of the community and has branded the complaints about her sex life “pathetic.”
The former careworker, from Middlesbrough, is now facing eviction – as her landlord is selling the three-bed house due to the complaints.
Gemma – who has been with her boyfriend for two years – says: “I’m in a normal, loving relationship and have a healthy sex life, just like anyone else.
“I’m a mum-of-two and I have responsibilities. I don’t let my kids hear that sort of thing.
“There is only one incident where I might have been noisy, when the kids were staying at my mum’s. I’d been for a night out and was feeling randy, so we may have been louder than normal. But we weren’t swinging from the chandeliers.
“The walls between the houses are very thin, so it’s possible neighbours could have heard me, but I’m no noisier than the average person. I’m upset and angry I’m now facing eviction. I’m being picked on for having a normal sex life – how unfair is that?”
Gemma – who is unemployed and claims benefits – moved to the area a year ago and says she settled in well with her neighbours.
But next-door neighbour Ian Nicholls, 56 – who says he’ll celebrate when Gemma moves out – tells a different story: “She moved in and our life was made hell. There was yelling and bawling day and night, loud music and sex noises.
“Our 35-year-old son lives with us and he had to move to a room at the front because he wasn’t getting any sleep.”
In September last year, Gemma was given a noise abatement notice, but continued to aggravate neighbours. “I’m a loud person,” she admits. “I’ve got two lively kids and I’m often shouting at them. But we’re no different to any other family.”
Unable to put up with the racket, Ian took action and recorded Gemma’s noisy antics.
He says: “Everyone makes noise, but this was too much. We were at the end of our tether.”
Ian handed his tape to the local council and Gemma was charged with breaching her noise abatement order.
Her solicitor pleaded guilty in court to the six charges on her behalf and she was fined between £50 and £330 for each offence, as well as £1,000 in costs, which Gemma says she’ll struggle to pay and that the kids might have to go without a holiday this year.
And the mum insists she’s far from a nightmare neighbour.
“I feel like I’m the victim of a vendetta,” she says. “I get on well with all my other neighbours, it’s just the couple next door.
“I wish I had a thrilling sex life, but I don’t. I’m a busy mum and try to fit in sex when I can.
“I’m so worried about finding a house now. I’ve only got a month to look and it’s not fair I’ve got to uproot my kids just because of a silly complaint.”
But for Gemma’s neighbours, the move can’t come quick enough. “It will be a huge relief when she’s gone,” Ian says. “I’m glad the council decided to crack down on her, it was long overdue.”