A ‘neighbour from hell” who put up night-vision CCTV cameras on 13ft-high poles to spy on nearby homes has been fined £1,380.
Kevin Grogan was accused of installing “highly-intrusive” tech resembling a “nuclear submarine base” in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
The former roofer, 68, was also accused of blocking access to a public highway by putting in a locked gate before filling it with building debris.
Grogan claimed the land belonged to him but was landed with a Community Protection Notice after neighbours’ complaints.
He has now been found guilty of two charges of failing to comply with the CPN, at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, the Mail reported.
The trial heard how he and his wife Frances were in a four-year battle about access to an alleyway, with 40-year-old Mohammed Alam who owned an adjacent property.
Grogan insisted the 4m-tall night-vision cameras, which also audio recording abilities and barbed wire, were a response to threats and violence.
He said he had a “reasonable excuse” for not complying when told to reposition the cameras so they no longer covered public areas and neighbours’ gardens.
He also denied keeping the alleyway gate despite having installed a padlock and chain, but was today convicted of the two charges.
Grogan was given a six-month conditional discharge in October 2021 after using a trailer to block access to the alleyway.
Tineka O’Mara, prosecuting, previously told magistrates Grogan fenced off the alleyway and built the cameras to “enforce” his claims to common land.
She told how neighbours complained and Grogan was first given a community protection warning and then a CPN by cops in March 2021.
He was told to stop blocking the alleyway and also remove building waste as well as the cameras and the poles.
After an appeal by Grogan a judge revised the CPN in May last year, telling him to reposition the cameras to only overlook his own home.
Former police sergeant Richard Garland told how he visited Grogan’s property in February and June last year to check whether he had complied with the new stipulation.
The officer described the cameras as “highly intrusive” and told of putting bin bags over them, only to later return and find the bags had been partially torn down.
He also said the CCTV made the place look more akin to a “nuclear submarine base”.
Sgt Garland said he later seized the cameras only for Grogan to later erect new replacements, and also told the court of being unable to access the alleyway because the gate was locked.
Grogan, giving evidence, said how the local row began in 2019 when Mr Alam moved into his home – and claimed he only installed the cameras because Mr Alam was “violent and verbally abusive”.
He admitted putting a padlock and chain on the gate but said it wasn’t locked, with access “available at all times”.
He also accused Mr Alam of leaving the disputed debris in the alleyway, potentially preventing the gate from opening inwards.
James Hudson, defending, told magistrates Grogan had a “reasonable excuse” for the cameras based on threats from Mr Alam – describing the neighbour as being “the trouble-maker in the dispute”.
He said Mr Alam was recently convicted of a public order offence after an incident between the pair in February last year.
Mr Hudson also said the cameras were still in place and were offering “protection”, shown by the fact there had been no further flare-ups.
But district judge Tom Mitchell has now convicted Grogan guilty of two charges of failing to comply with the CPN and described his evidence as “tailored and evasive”.
Grogan was fined £500 with an additional £250 due to breaching the order during his six-month conditional discharge period.
He was also told to pay a £300 victim surcharge and £330 costs.
Locals had previously described Grogan as a “neighbour from hell” and a “real pest”.
Resident Anju Begum, 33, told The Sun last year: “It has been a total nightmare for three years.
“He has been the neighbour from hell, spying on us and verbally abusing us.
“He threatened to throw a brick at my face. We have had to call the police up to 30 times since we moved in three years ago.”
Her partner Mr Alam told us: “He once chased me with a machete.
“But when the police came round they arrested me because of all the martial arts equipment I have in the house.
“Him and his wife play the old age pensioner card and seems to get away with it. It’s outrageous. He is a total nightmare.”
And taxi driver Khalid Ramzan said: “He’s a real pest.
“You feel spied on and he’s had lots of run-ins with neighbours.
“It is just very creepy having all the listening devices and cameras.”
But Grogan told us then it was “completely untrue” he was spying on neighbours and blamed Mr Alam for the “land dispute”.
