A yob cut a hole in his neighbour's hedge to get a better view of the Welsh mountains as part of a campaign of harassment.
Alexander Edwards, 30, cut a hole in his neighbour's hedge, shone a torch at his neighbour's CCTV camera, sang rap music and goaded dogs into barking late at night. But the victim Ian Cox complained to the council and North Wales Police and on Wednesday, March 30, Edwards admitted harassing the victim.
Edwards, from Pengarth, Conwy, was ordered by a judge at Llandudno Magistrates Court to do 80 hours of unpaid work, NorthWalesLive reports. The court heard Edwards' mum, Jane Edwards, had fallen out with her next door neighbour and Edwards became "embroiled" in the row when he went to live with her.
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Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, said Mr Cox reported issues with Mrs Edwards to Conwy Council as long ago as 2014. He was helped by an anti-social behaviour officer and was advised to keep a log. Mr Cox also installed a CCTV camera.
However in 2020 a hole appeared in Mr Cox's hedge. There was no CCTV footage of the culprit but Edwards later admitted making it "so he could see the view of the mountains from his bedroom window".
Cox's CCTV camera captured footage of Edwards shining a torch at the CCTV camera at night. The court also heard Edwards would encourage dogs to bark at midnight or 1am.
The prosecutor said in another incident Edwards would sing rap music lyrics at Mr Cox, including the line "I'm f****** gonna kill yer".
The case centred on a series of incidents between July 2021 and January this year which amounted to harassment. The prosecutor said someone, later found to be Edwards, cut a several foot square hole in Mr Cox's hedge without permission on July 5.
Edwards later stuck his middle finger up towards Mr Cox in their street on August 2 and again on January 4. He also ran after him causing alarm and spat at Mr Cox's van window.
In a victim statement Mr Cox said the incidents mean he cannot use his garden and is reluctant to walk on their estate. Ms Jackson said: "He just wants to be left alone to live a normal life."
Graham Parry, defending, said Edwards had a view down the valley until the hedge grew "out of control". He added the defendant was allowed to cut the hedge, albeit on his own side.
But District Judge Gwyn Jones told Edwards in the dock: "For whatever reason, you got embroiled in a dispute which is not of your making. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this matter, you conducted a series of little acts which caused harassment to your neighbour. It was anti-social behaviour."
Judge Jones noted that Edwards had never "troubled the courts" before but added: "I'm satisfied that this offence is serious enough to justify a community order." As well as imposing the 12-month community order to do the unpaid work, the District Judge made a four-year restraining order prohibiting the defendant from contacting or approaching Ian Cox directly or indirectly.
It also bans him from entering the curtilage of any property occupied by Mr Cox. The defendant must also pay £85 costs and a £95 surcharge.
