BELLRAISER
Neighbour war caught on cam
He called one carer a rat and threatened to chop
up another
A NIGHTMARE neighbour could be banned from his street after his campaign of harrassment was caught on camera.
Stephen Groves, 56, is accused of waging a two-year war against a disabled neighbour and even threatening to “chop up” his carers.
Groves flipped after Steven Persaud, 61, had a video doorbell fitted to a wall of their adjoining council bungalows in Birmingham.
Footage shows angry Groves taking a claw hammer to the device and taking the hinges off a shared gate – which then fell backwards and nearly flattened him.
Other clips show him scrawling on the lens with a marker pen, taking a screwdriver to the device and trying to clip its wires.
In February, jobless Groves appeared before Birmingham magistrates court and admitted three charges of harassment.
He was given a two-year restraining order, a 12-week electronic curfew, 20 days of probation and was ordered to pay £100 compensation to each of his three victims.
But now, further claims of threats and intimidation have been made at a separate hearing and
Birmingham City Council is seeking to force Groves out using anti-social behaviour laws.
The council has applied for an injunction to ban him from entering his entire street – effectively meaning he will have to move.
Barrister Peter Saville, for the council, told Birmingham county court: “The council’s case is that Mr Groves’ conduct has amounted to a campaign of harassment over a number of years against the carers of his neighbour Steven Persaud. Carers visit him four times a day. Two carers in particular have been subjected to a campaign of harassment.”
According to the council, Groves threatened to “cut up” the carers and used “derogatory language towards them which indicated aggression”.
Groves, it was claimed, would jump out at carers and shouted at one woman: “You are a f***ing rat.”
He allegedly told another woman he would “chop her up and put her in the f***ing bin”.
Frightened
The council claimed: “This behaviour caused one carer to resign and both remaining carers have stated they feel alarm and distress when visiting the property.”
The local authority claims wheelchair user Mr Persaud sometimes has to go without assistance “because carers have been too frightened to access his home”.
Birmingham Council wants to enforce an injunction banning Groves from Pear Tree Road, in Shard End.
They claim he has also disturbed other residents by blaring loud music and has been seen “buying drugs”.
Mr Persaud’s niece, Victoria Rascinskis, 39, told the Sunday People: “All we want is a peaceful life. This has been going on for two years.
“It has been hell for my uncle. He is a disabled man and he just doesn’t need this added stress.
“It has also been terrible for the carers who are just trying to do their jobs. We need this to stop.”
Groves, who denies wrongdoing, has been offered alternative accommodation. He has represented himself at court, and said: “I’ve decided not to go anywhere now.
“I’m staying where I am because I’ve done nothing wrong.”
A judge will decide whether to grant the injunction at a two-day hearing in September.
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