A neighbour from hell who hacked down residents’ memorial trees has been banned from his village until 2037.
Adrian Paul Stairs, 59, made his next-door neighbours’ lives a misery for years in a row over a boundary line.
Last year he used a chainsaw to cut down several mature shrubs and trees planted by the residents’ loved-ones who have since died. He also threatened his neighbours with a brick.
An investigation was launched by the local Neighbourhood Policing Team supported by anti-social behaviour sergeant Wyn Hughes.
The team collected enough evidence to charge Stairs with criminal damage and assault.
They discovered he had terrorised his neighbours and other residents in the village of Blisworth, Northants, over a prolonged period.
Stairs has been banned from entering the village for 15 years - meaning he will be aged 74 the next time he is allowed to go there.
In their victim impact statements, residents said they had suffered anxiety, fear and despair due to Stairs’ persistent anti-social behaviour.
They revealed that others villagers, including pensioners in their 80s, had also been targeted by Stairs.
Stairs, who has since moved to Wellingborough, Northants, was handed a six-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
He was also handed a restraining order which prevents him from entering Blisworth for 15 years and from contacting the victims in any way.
Stairs absconded from court before the sentencing hearing and was arrested and appeared at court again on December 2.
He was handed an extra two weeks’ prison sentence which was suspended, along with a 60-day rehabilitation order for absconding from court.
Sergeant Wyn Hughes said: “When the victims in this case were informed of the result and the restraining order, it was like a weight was lifted off their shoulders.
“This is something they have struggled with for so long and therefore I am so pleased for them.
“However, there are no real winners in this type of case as the impact upon the victims has been significant and prolonged.
“I hope this case shows our ability to use both criminal and anti-social behaviour legislation in a positive way to protect our residents and keep our communities safer.”
But Stairs insisted he was the victim and said he felt like he was on a “murder charge”.
Speaking from his home in Wellingborough, Northants, 15 miles away from his former village, he said: “It started 20 years ago.
“The head of allotments accused my wife of stealing land at the back.
“I cut some conifers at the back and they sent us an email saying we’d damaged produce. I had a go at them.
“She’s since had a survey done and the surveyor has said the back boundary is in the right place.
“I got a criminal damage order for cutting the overhanging shrub, it was all overhanging the garden.
“We’ve put posts down and they’ve ripped them up.
“I retaliated two times. I picked a brick up and said if you don’t stop I’m going to lob this. I chucked it to the side of me.
“I did cut down the shrubs. But have a look at what else they said I did.
“I’m not saying I’m an angel and I admit what I did, but it doesn’t help what they do.
“I feel like I’ve got a charge of murder. I’ll be 74 by then, it’s a long time. I really don’t believe that it has happened.
“There’s one thing I don’t like is being called a liar, and I’ll admit why I’ve done it.”
