Hampton, N.H. – A parking dispute between two well-to-do oceanfront neighbors that has gone on for over a year has led to a court fight that includes allegations of stalking, pounding of nails into tires, secret videotaping, and dousing of others with a sprinkler.
Videotapes played in court show one side giving the finger toward the neighbors’ home.
One judge likened the battling neighbors to cartoon characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
The two principal antagonists, Beverly Hollingworth and Peter Hutchins, are used to spots in the public eye – she as a legislator, he as a trial lawyer.
Hollingworth, 69, is a former New Hampshire Senate president who ran for governor three years ago. Hutchins, 47, won millions from the Roman Catholic Church on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse.
At issue is whether Hollingworth is entitled to park at the end of a narrow gravel road in front of a house the Hutchinses bought last year on Great Boar’s Head Point, a spit of land that juts into the Atlantic Ocean.
Hollingworth and her husband own a century-old house built down a steep slope from the road. Hollingworth says an old court decision establishes her rights to the road.
Not so, says Hutchins, who lays partial claim to the 8-foot- wide road, which cuts across his property.
“Ms. Hollingworth and her tenants and guests continued to use the area for parking, often parking four to five cars across our property,” Hutchins said Tuesday in a statement. “An effective method to control this situation is necessary.”
That part of the case has yet to be resolved.
Separately, Hutchins’ wife, Kathy, has accused Hollingworth’s husband, William Gilligan, of stalking her. She testified she felt threatened when Gilligan told her “You have no class” and “You have no shame” after witnesses said they saw her douse her neighbors’ guests with a lawn sprinkler.
The Hollingworth side claims Kathy Hutchins was caught on videotape hammering a nail into a tire on Hollingworth’s car at night. Kathy Hutchins claimed she was “banging” on the tire but did not puncture it. She has pleaded not guilty to attempted criminal mischief.
