A heated row between neighbours has reached the courts this week after a former  Lamphey resident screamed at her neighbour to ‘f*** off back to England’.

“Hearing the foul language that she used towards me – language  that everyone in the street could hear – was very distressing,” said the  70-year-old victim, Linda McCann as she gave  evidence during  the trial of Lisa Thomas.

“Lisa  told me to f*** off back to England and I told her that she was being racist again.  And that’s not nice.”

Matters came to a head at approximately 2 pm on August 2, 2024, after  Mrs Linda McCann and her husband returned from a shopping trip to Iceland, Milford Haven.  As the couple began unloading bags of frozen food into a freezer situated in their garden shed in Honeyhill Grove, Lamphey, they heard  loud  banging noises,  followed by shouting,  coming from Lisa Thomas’ next door property.

“I came outside to find out what it was, and thought my neighbor had possibly  thrown a glass bottle or something at my shed,” Linda McCann told Haverfordwest magistrates during Monday’s trial.

“But then I could see that it was shingle that had been thrown from Lisa’s  landing window.  “Lisa  then opened the window and shouted stuff out at me.”

CCTV footage captured by Mrs McCann’s motion sensored camera  was played to the court, during which Thomas could be heard shouting “You want to stick your fingers up at my 11-year-old daughter, you stupid old c***?  You stupid little nonce.  

“F*** off back to Birmingham and f*** off back to England.”

But  Thomas, 34, claimed it was Mrs McCann who had started the incident.

“I’d lived in that property for ten years and there had never been any issues, until the McCann’s arrived around three years ago,” she said.

“That afternoon I was in the living room and my daughter was upstairs in the landing window. My daughter  was paranoid about the neighbours, and it could have been her that threw the stones or it could have been a bird.  I didn’t see.

But it wasn’ me.”

She denied usually racially aggravated behaviour towards Mrs McCann, stating that her mother was a native of Yorkshire.

“And sometimes I speak myself, with a slight Yorkshire twang,” she said,

Lisa Thomas went on to say that she heard her daughter shouting that Linda McCann was making gestures at her from her garden.

“Then I heard Linda shout ‘When are you lot going to f*** off and move?’

“I’m no angel and I’m not portraying myself to be, but there was something that made me react in this way.  I’m not allowing my daughter to be victimised, but that’s what was happening that day.

“I’ve begged Dyfed-Powys Police to serve notices on everybody, but it’s always just me.  All my life I’ve been autistic and  pushed to one side and it’s always me who’s been left to deal with stuff by myself.”

Thomas, of Plas Peregrine, Steynton, denied causing racially aggravated intentional harassment to Mrs McCann, and of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

She pleaded guilty to a third charge of failing to comply with a community protection notice.

After considering the evidence, Thomas was found guilty of making threatening, abusive or insulting words like to cause harassment or distress.  She was found not guilty of  causing racially aggravated intentional harassment.

Magistrates adjourned sentencing to April 15 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the probation service.  An interim restraining order was imposed, preventing Thomas from having any contact with Linda McCann.

An exciting new art exhibition has opened in a major Pembrokeshire gallery, showcasing the work of some of the most outstanding contemporary Welsh and international artists.

The Wales Contemporary/Cymry Gyfoes exhibition, founded by Milford Haven’s ‘Waterfront Gallery in 2019 and sponsored by the Port of Milford Haven, has become a significant platform for artistic talent, featuring a stunning array of contemporary artworks from across the globe.

Now in its fifth year, Wales Contemporary/Cymru Gyfoes offers artists the opportunity to showcase their work in both central London and Milford Haven, through two and three-dimensional works. And this year, the total prize fund is a hefty £15,000.

After opening last month with a prize giving ceremony at the Garrison Chapel, Chelsea Barracks, London, the exhibition has now transferred to the Waterfront Gallery in Milford Haven, where selection is now open for the Welsh Public Choice Prize, which will be announced at a closing event on May 17. Visitors to the Waterfront Gallery are invited to vote for their favourite piece, and the most popular choice will receive a prize of £1,000.

This year’s competition saw an overwhelming 1,600 entries from over 800 artists, with works spanning painting, sculpture, drawing, print, ceramics, textiles and glass. An accomplished panel of judges, including painter Ian H Watkins, artist Kelvin Okafor and print maker Katherine Jones RA, shortlisted works for the exhibition and selected winners for the Graham Sutherland Prize, two dimensional, three-dimensional, Welsh and Pembrokeshire pieces.

“We’re delighted to sponsor the Wales Contemporary exhibition for the fifth year and celebrate our longstanding support of the Waterfront Gallery, to bring world-class artwork to Milford Haven,” said Lucy Wonnacott, who is head of communications and marketing at Port of Milford Haven.

“This year’s exhibition really is stunning, and we hope the entries continue to inspire local and aspiring artists to immerse themselves in the culture and creativity that is on display.”

The exhibition opened on March 21 and runs until May 17. The Waterfront Gallery is open between 10.30 am and 4 pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and admission is free.

A MILFORD HAVEN man has admitted assaulting three police officers and being in possession of a knife in public.

Adam Williams, aged 37, of Richard John Road, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court last week where he pleaded guilty to five charges.

The court heard that on March 16 Williams was found using a Volkswagen Golf without insurance in Milford Haven. On the same date, he was in possession of a craft knife without lawful authority or reasonable excuse on Richard John Road.

Williams also admitted three counts of common assault of an emergency worker, relating to three police officers.

Magistrates adjourned the case for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. Williams was remanded into custody and is due to be sentenced on March 31.