A former manager of the Stone Roses has been found guilty of harassing his Anglesey neighbours. Gareth Evans, 76, took photos on an iPad of their possessions, opened their bin and hosed their property.
Evans, of Trearddur Bay, had been given a community protection notice designed to protect neighbours Joaquin and Bella Plana-Oliveira in 2021.
But Caernarfon Magistrates found he breached the conditions of that order four times. He was cleared of one breach allegation. His barrister had accused Mrs Plana-Oliveira of taking a 'high' number of videos and photos of Evans, and of actually harassing him. But the bench ruled her evidence was 'credible and consistent'.
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The case was adjourned for a probation report to be prepared before a sentencing hearing later this month, NorthWalesLive has reported.
The court heard a community protection notice had been served on Evans in October 2021 prohibiting him from causing anti-social behaviour. One condition was that he 'must not engage in conduct capable of causing nuisance, annoyance, alarm or distress to any person staying or residing' in a flat at an address in Trearddur Bay, a well-to-do village on Anglesey.
However, the court heard Evans did commit multiple breaches of that order between December 27, 2021 and January 28, this year.
The complainant, Bella Plana-Oliveira, and her husband rent a flat in a detached building next to Evans's home which is on Ty'r Enfys, Lon Isallt in the village.
She described a number of incidents in which she said she saw Evans open their bin at 4.45am one day, spray their front door with water from a hosepipe, and point his iPad at their boat, hot tub and picnic table as if he were taking photos of them.
She added: "I also look after my dad. I sometimes work till 7pm. I come home to a place where I should be relaxed and switch off and that's not possible. It would be such an idyllic spot where we live if we did not have to put up with this. It's just crazy.
"It's like living on eggshells. I'm concerned about my husband." Under cross examination by defence barrister Alexa Carrier, Mrs Plana Oliveria denied disliking Gareth Evans personally, only his actions.
She also denied that the 31 photos and 10 videos she took was a high number, and denied she was harassing Mr Evans herself.
Mr Plana-Oliveira said Evans had shone headlights into his home and revved his Toyota car engine. Mr Plana-Oliveira, who has an orange Jeepster, also told how he saw Evans bounce a rugby ball near his car which then hit the vehicle.
But the defence barrister Ms Carrier questioned this. She said: "Do you accept that the shape of a rugby ball (means it) is intended to bounce unpredictably?"
Mr Plana-Oliveira, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, agreed. Ms Carrier said: "So Mr Evans can't have intended for it to bounce and hit your Jeep?"
Mr Plana-Oliveira said: "I am not Mr Evans and I don't know how he thinks."
But prosecutor Ceri Nash insisted that the 'catalogue of incidents' amounted to the harassment of Mrs Plana-Oliveira. Ms Nash said: "They may seem minor or trivial to the impartial onlooker but day-to-day they caused annoyance and distress to the complainant. It was a snowball effect."
Under cross examination, she put it to Evans that his neighbours annoyed him.
But he denied he was that type of person, saying: "When you have 240,000 people at concerts, 60,000 a night, when people are swearing at you and threatening you, you can't get annoyed."
Magistrates chairman Elfed ap Gomer found Evans guilty of harassment and four breaches of the community protection order.
He told Evans in the dock: "We find the incidents put together are oppressive and do sustain criminal liability. Therefore we find you guilty."
Mrs Plana-Oliveira's evidence was credible, clear and consistent. Evans' evidence was not coherent or consistent. He ought to have known his conduct amounted to harassment, he said.
Evans had said he opened the bin to check if a plant pot awarded to his late son after a 100m race had been put inside. But the magistrate said opening a bin at 4.45am would have caused annoyance if not distress.
As for bouncing the rugby ball near the Plana-Oliveiras' car, the magistrate said the bench did not believe the defendant had 'innocent intentions'.
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