EXCLUSIVE: Knock down that wall! Actress Minnie Driver is victorious in her bitter feud with 75-year-old neighbour who must demolish his wall or go to jail

  • A judge has sided with Minnie Driver's demands that neighbor Daniel Perelmutter knock down the wall 
  • The row started two years ago when Perelmutter, 75, began building a new house on his Hollywood property
  • Driver, 46, shares a driveway with the man and she complained a wall on the new property reduced its width
  • She filed a restraining order against him when the feud turned ugly, accusing him of frightening her and her eight-year-old son
  • Perelmutter retaliated by accusing the actress of throwing baby jars filled with black paint at the wall
  • On Wednesday, a judge told Perelmutter to knock it down and complete 10 hours of community service
  • He will be sent to jail for five days if he fails to comply with the order by April 12 
  • Driver's lawyer welcomed the news after what she said was a 'very long and trying' time for the British star

Actress Minnie Driver is claiming victory in her bitter, long-running feud with an elderly neighbor, DailyMail.com can reveal.

A Los Angeles judge today threatened to throw the 75 year-old man in jail if he doesn’t complete community service and knock down a wall at the center of their dispute.

The vicious battle between Driver, 46 - star of ABC’s series Speechless - and Daniel Perelmutter erupted two years ago when he started building an ultra-modern, luxury house on his Hollywood Hills property, next to the driveway he shares with the Good Will Hunting star.

Their mutual rancor - involving a wall he built that she claims narrowed the driveway and construction allegedly blocking access to her home - soon turned ugly with Driver accusing the grandfather-of-seven, among many other things, of frightening her and her eight year-old son. 

He countered with equally nasty barbs, claiming she screamed abuse at him and even vandalized his house by throwing baby food jars filled with black paint at a wall.

When a restraining order she took out against Perelmutter in 2015 failed to end the feud, Driver went to Los Angeles Superior Court again last October. 

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A judge has sided with Minnie Driver and ordered her neighbor, 75-year-old Daniel Perelmutter (right leaving Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday) to knock down a wall which encroaches on their shared driveway 

And this time she won. She asked Judge Mark Borenstein to hold Perelmutter in contempt for violating an already existing easement order that said the shared driveway could not be blocked and should also remain 20 feet wide.

After studying maps and property lines and hearing testimony from Driver, Perelmutter and other witnesses, including more neighbors, Perelmutter was found not guilty of blocking the shared driveway - but he was found guilty of contempt for reducing the width of the driveway to 14 feet in order to make room to build a wall around his new house.

Judge Borenstein today sentenced Perelmutter - who walks around with a crooked driftwood cane - to five days in jail, suspended on condition he completes 10 days community service.

He was ordered to remove the offending wall by April 12. And he was also fined $1,000 and ordered to pay Driver’s attorney fees.

Despite being found guilty during his three-week trial back in November, in court Perelmutter still railed at Driver, saying that she 'perjured herself in every way with her testimony of complete lies' during the trial, putting on a 'performance worthy of an Oscar winner.'

Describing himself as a 'disabled army veteran injured in the service of my country,' Perelmutter read a long statement to the court, his hands shaking from what he called a Parkinsons-like disorder caused by stress. 

Driver's home sits at top of a long driveway and the property under construction is at the bottom. She claimed the wall, put up two years ago when Perelmutter began work on the new house, encroached on it 

Perelmutter accused the 46-year-old of vandalizing the wall by throwing baby food jars filled with black paint at it 

Perelmutter has launched a counter suit against the actress and several neighbors claiming they have been harassing him for years 

He claimed that Driver had subjected him to two years of 'harassment and abuse' and that she was 'guilty of many acts of hatred' against him.

'I’ve never been subjected to such vicious hatred,' he added.

The 75-year-old said the whole ordeal had been a 'game' for Driver 

Perelmutter also insisted in court that Driver had 'approved the placement of' the controversial wall at the heart of their feud. 

But a clearly irritated Judge Borenstein interrupted Perelmutter’s long diatribe, saying: 'To tell me that I had significant confusion as to where the easement was, is not correct.

'Telling me that I was hoodwinked by witnesses against you….does not help your case.

'You were convicted of contempt without a reasonable doubt. To tell me I got it completely wrong….is not going to help your case in sentencing today.'

Despite the judge’s warning, Perelmutter went on lashing out at Driver, telling the court: 'The actions of Miss Driver caused us to go deep into debt so we’ve had to put the house (the one that shares Driver’s driveway) on the market.

'For Miss Driver, this was a game, a game she must win.'

Driver was not in court to savor her victory but her attorney, Ellyn Garofalo, told the judge that Perelmutter’s earlier allegations were 'fabricated, incorrect and out of line' and that Driver had been 'sincere and honest' during the trial.

'We are not here to relitigate this case - the court has already reached the right conclusion,' added Garofalo, who said that she and Driver had deliberately delayed today’s sentencing so that Perelmutter would have time to remove the offending wall before he came before the judge today. But all they got from Perelmutter was a 'veiled threat.' 

During their feud, Perelmutter said he allowed Driver to build a large gate (above) at the foot of their shared driveway to block out paparrazzi but that she never gave him the access code to it

Perelmutter (above last year showing DailyMail.com around the site at the heart of their dispute) accused the actress of lying in court 

Judge Borenstein told Perelmutter that he had given him the opportunity to show remorse, 'but all I hear instead is a full frontal attack on your accusers. To come to this sentencing hearing and argue to me that I got it wrong, that there was no contempt, doesn’t help your case. I am not confused about the location of the easement. I am not confused about your encroachment of that easement.'

Driver's lawyer said they welcomed the judge's decision after what had been a 'very long and trying' legal ordeal 

Judge Borenstein said he was taking Perelmutter’s medical condition and service to his country into account in sentencing. But he also scheduled a compliance hearing for April 2 and if Perelmutter has not moved his wall and completed his 10 hours of community service by that time, he’ll face five days in jail.

After the court hearing, Driver’s lawyer, Ellyn Garofalo told DailyMail.com: 'We’re very satisfied with the outcome.' 

But she also admitted she was 'furious' at Perelmutter’s accusations in court against Driver. 

'Every word he uttered in court today was untrue,' she said.

'And he showed no remorse. The trouble is, in this country you can stand up in open court and say what you like about somebody, however defamatory it is.'

Garofolo said that the actress is only eager to see justice done, not prison for Perelmutter - who lives next door to his disputed new house with his wife of 48 years, Mary Lou, 68.

'Minnie isn’t pushing for a man of Mr Perelmutter’s age to go to jail but she does want him to fix the problem. Fix it. 

'He was found guilty of contempt because he violated a court order by building a wall that reduced the size of her driveway by six feet. Now she wants him to knock down that wall and restore the driveway to the 20 feet stipulated in the easement.

'This case has been very long and very trying for Minnie and she is relieved that the court established that she was right all along.'

Perelmutter is counter suing Driver and several other neighbors, claiming they’ve been harassing him for years. And that case is scheduled for a jury trial in May this year.

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