Inside notorious ‘Neighbours from Hell’ family – from wild rats to slamming walls with sledgehammers and arson scam

HE was dubbed one of Britain’s worst neighbours after terrorising those unlucky enough to live next door with shouting matches, all-night parties and filthy conditions that attracted rats. 

This week, a report was released detailing the death of ‘Neighbour From Hell’ John Pitt who died at the age of 53 from Covid last year while in prison. 

It alleged staff should have done more to monitor his problems with obesity and diabetes and that an outbreak of the deadly virus at the prison could have been better handled.

John, who was last pictured with hooped earrings and a rat-tail hairstyle in a mugshot, had been locked up since 2009 after trying to jab an ex-partner’s eyes during a horrific assault.

It was the latest stain on the name of his 10-strong family, who have a number of convictions between them and horror stories to match.

Following his passing, we look back into the shocking things they subjected neighbours to and their own tragic lives.

‘Rats run riot with rottweilers’

Heads of the household John Snr and Mary Pitt hit the headlines in the early Nineties after appearing on the TV show Neighbours From Hell.

But it wasn’t just the family that was running riot, it was their pets too - they had four Rottweilers, two cats and an Old English sheepdog.

During one of many police raids, officers described their home in Ashington, Northumberland, as “a nightmare” after finding rats and dogs living alongside each other in squalid conditions. 

“Rats were scampering around the house with the dogs and officers who went in there could not believe their eyes,” they said.

‘Gave neighbour a heart attack’

The Pitt family were forced out of their Ashington home in 1994 after numerous complaints from neighbours and moved to a caravan site 50 miles away. 

But before then, they wreaked havoc on those around them - including one neighbour who claimed to suffer panic attacks due to the verbal abuse she received from them.

One of the most harrowing claims was of a lady who said she had a heart attack after one of the family’s rottweilers managed to get into her garden and charged at her.

During the TV show, the family’s dogs seem out of control and one Rottweiler started to gnaw on the windowsill after being told “Do your party piece” by one family member.

‘All night parties and slamming sledgehammers’

Other neighbours claimed the family had “all-night parties” with music played at full blast and wouldn’t turn it down despite their protests.

They also said they would slam sledgehammers into the walls to disturb those around them and would ride their motorbikes on the pavement to scare people. 

The TV crew spoke to angry residents who spent 10 months trying to get rid of the Pitt family to no avail.

One said: “You wouldn’t wish to live next door to you or anyone else for that matter.”

Another second added: “This used to be a nice neighbourhood until they came,” and a third said: “We can’t even go to the shop.”

Residents seemed desperate and said they have resorted to legal channels. 

A fourth said: “Surely there must be somewhere they can put them with people of their own kind who can put up with them.” 

In a late part of the doc, the police attended the Pitt family home.

The glass from their front doors and windows were shown to have been smashed completely and their messy home was revealed. 

One woman believed to be mum Mary told the camera: “We all stick together, if one of us gets hurt we all get hurt… But don’t fight, don’t fight.” 

Burned own home to claim £100,000

John Snr, Mary and their son David were jailed for starting a fire at their family home in Castle Terrace, Ashington, in 1997.

But their plan to claim £100,000 in home insurance money was foiled and the parents received seven-year prison sentences each.

When the Channel 4 film crews rolled up to the family’s home, John Junior was allegedly missing. 

It’s claimed that he was in prison at that point for stabbing his brother-in-law.

There were also problems including with drugs. John’s brother Linden Pitt died of a suspected heroin overdose in 2008, when he was just 35.

Ex kidnapped, stripped and tied up

In the years leading up to John Snr’s death, he was serving time in HMP Humber, which is a medium security prison in East Yorkshire. 

He had been jailed in 2009 after a horrific attack on his ex-partner, who he kidnapped, stripped and tied up to a chair before torturing her.

John tried to gouge the unnamed woman’s eyes out and had threatened to cut and slit her throat with a pair of scissors. 

She only managed to escape after launching herself out of a window that was 20ft above the ground.

John was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, but could only be released if he was given approval by the parole board, which he never achieved. 

Covid death at prison

In March last year, he was among many inmates to contract Covid during a massive outbreak at the prison.

A report into his death revealed that he was at higher risk of contracting the deadly illness because he was “obese” and had diabetes.

It claimed that staff could have done more and that John should have been “closely monitored” and observed regularly. 

One clinician also noted that his diabetes “was not monitored regularly” and there were “no follow-up checks or reviews” in his record.

On March 2, John told nurses he was feeling unwell but was advised to “sit upright” to improve his oxygen levels. 

One hour later he was taken to hospital after his breathing became “laboured” and he looked “pale”. 

John’s health deteriorated further, which led to him being put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit, and by March 22, he had died.