Woman, 72, harasses neighbour by repeatedly moving her bins

Linda Connel-Williams, of St Peters Way, appeared in Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Friday for her trial after being charged with harassment without violence.

Prosecuting, Miss Johnson, told the court that the harassment began between Connel-Williams and her neighbour in July last year, when the 72-year-old started moving the victim’s bins.

A video of Connel-Williams moving the bin, and a picture of the bin then on a patch of grass, was shown to the court.

While giving evidence, the victim told the court that coming home from work to find her bins moved was ‘quite upsetting’, as she had had one go missing before.

Further footage from August 15 showed that while the victim was retrieving items from her car, Connel-Williams can be heard from her upstairs window.

“Can you bang that gate harder?” she can be heard to shout in the footage.

The gate, which has access into the communal garden the neighbours share, is difficult to close depending on the weather, the court heard.

“You have to slam the gate because it’s weathered,” said the victim.

Two days later, CCTV footage shows Connel-Williams moving a blue bin from the spot the victim had left it in and taking it down the road away from the property.

“I put it where I could see it because sometimes it does go missing,” the victim said.

“[It was] quite annoying because it’s not for anybody to be moving it. It shouldn’t be moved to the middle of the street.”

On September 3 Connel-Williams was caught once again by the same CCTV camera shouting to the victim from her window.

The neighbours live in the same building, with Connel-Williams living above the victim, who in the footage was seen outside in the communal garden.

The victim told the court that she glanced up to Connel-Williams’ window because she’d heard a noise and wondered what it was, but was accosted for doing so.

“Don’t be looking up here,” Connel-Williams could be heard to say.

Miss Johnson asked the victim while she was giving evidence how this interaction had made her feel, to which she replied ‘intimidated’.

“I feel like I can’t go into my back garden,” she said.

Connel-Williams moved the victim’s bin once again on September 21 away from where it was left to a grass area away from the property, leaving the victim feeling ‘stressed and upset’.

Footage from the victim’s front door showed Connel-Williams approaching it on October 1, yelling at it ‘isn’t it time you dropped dead’.

The 72-year-old then proceeded to post a note through the victim’s letterbox six days later, which read ‘keep your rusty rubbish off our pebbles’, in reference to two bikes that were kept in the communal garden on pebbles that the defendant stated she bought.

Further footage played as evidence showed Connel-Williams moving the victim’s bin on October 8 and shouting at her front door to ‘open the gate’ on October 9.

Due to the ongoing dispute between the neighbours, who have lived in the same building for 12 years, mediation was held two years ago to help stop any further incidents.

This mediation, the court heard, agreed that the communal gate could be locked between the hours of 6pm and 9pm each night by a bolt that can be accessed on both sides.

The footage from October 9 was captured at 8.47am, meaning that it was still allowed to be locked.

“I felt intimidated by it,” said the victim.

“Now I go out the back just to avoid meeting her at the front door. I try and go through the garden as much as I can.”

The victim also told the court that she has been taking anti-depressants as a result of the conflict with Connel-Williams.

“Would it be fair to say that Linda is an elderly woman who doesn’t pose any threat to you?” said Mr Schooler while cross-examining the victim.

“No, not really when she tells me at my front door to drop dead,” she replied.

The victim was also asked by Mr Schooler if she could have tried to close the communal gate quietly in an effort to maintain a peaceful living situation with Connel-Williams.

“I could have tried but it wouldn’t have worked, it swells so it can’t close,” she said.

While giving evidence, Connel-Williams admitted to several of the incidents, including telling the victim ‘isn’t it time you dropped dead’.

“I have been there for 34 and a half years, and I have not had one decent neighbour in all the time,” said Connel-Williams.

“The reason that I said that is because for all the time I have lived there we have had nothing but issues with the neighbours.

“It’s time my husband and I had some peace.”

Connel-Williams did deny the incident on October 9 where she was seen on CCTV to shout ‘open the gate’ at the victim’s front door, stating ‘I’m not up that early in the morning’.

However, when cross-examined by Miss Johnson, Connel-Williams told the court that she typically wakes up between 4am to 7am each morning.

The 72-year-old also stated that she moved each of her neighbours’ bins on the day rubbish is collected because they can be left in parking bays afterwards, so she moves them onto the path.

But when shown the evidence from September 21 once again, Connel-Williams admitted that the victims bin had not been in any parking bay on the occasion that she moved it down the street.

Miss Johnson also questioned whether Connel-Williams had asked the victim if she could move her bin at any point, which she said no.

“Why would I want to speak to her,” she said.

When questioned whether asking the victim if it was time to ‘drop dead’ would be distressing, she stated that it’s ‘just a figure of speech’ and that she ‘didn’t really mean it in that way.’

“It’s fair to say that that would cause the victim to feel upset,” said Miss Johnson.

“It wouldn’t make me feel upset if someone said that to me,” said Connel-Williams.

“I’m a very strong person.”

The Magistrates retired for less than 15 minutes before returning to give their verdict, in which Connel-Williams was found guilty of harassment without violence.

The 72-year-old will be sentenced at a later date.