Llanbradach bird lover's horror as trees hacked down in cruel act

Simon Mayne, 56, has been housebound after a work accident almost 13 years ago left him with nerve damage and makes it very difficult to walk.

As part of an attempt to distract himself and find something he enjoyed, Mr Mayne, who lives in Llanbradach, Caerphilly county, took up a hobby of bird watching and photography using a special digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera.

He said: “I’ve loved taking pictures of birds for years, but after being forced to retire, I wanted to take it up as a bit more of a hobby as I already had an array of birds in my garden, including goldfinches, siskins, redcaps, song thrushes, woodpeckers and chaffinches.”

On the odd occasion, he has also spotted sparrow-hawks, nuthatches, robins and doves too, which he says is a “delight” as a bird and nature lover.

He explained: “I started sharing my pictures online on this fantastic site called Flickr, then I started to post them in the local village and on my Facebook too.

“People were really lovely about them and complimented me on my photography skills.”

Simon has been left horrified at damage to his trees (Image: Simon Mayne) However, his joy has turned to horror after two mystery neighbours have recently been vandalising his garden – by way of hacking down the trees and tearing apart the plants and bird boxes that he had put up.

Mr Mayne says these issues first began in 2019, when he began to experience some neighbours being unpleasant, including “calling me every name under the sun”, which he claims has got worse over the last five years.

The trees have been cut down (Image: Simon Mayne) He has caught some people actively causing the vandalization of his trees, and the Argus has seen CCTV footage of the trees being hacked down, which Mr Mayne says was during nesting season.

“When I woke up one morning and looked outside to see my lovely trees had been damaged, it just completely hit me for six.

“I just didn’t know what to do as all my hard work had been destroyed by some careless people who were trying to hurt me.”

He has caught the vandals on CCTV (Image: Simon Mayne) The community has banded together to try and help Mr Mayne cope with the vandalization of his trees, including the local council planting another tree in its place as soon as it was big enough, which he placed a birdfeeder on.

Just days later, Mr Mayne came outside again to find that the tree with the birdfeeder on had been sawn in half, and the tree itself was cut down a number of weeks later.

Simon says the damage is a nightmare and is causing worry for his family (Image: Simon Mayne)

He said: “This is a complete nightmare for me and my family. It’s causing me to have more problems with my anxiety and depression.

“I’m really worried that these are threats that could get worse, and I’m worried what the impact will be for my wife and son – what if they get hurt as part of all this?

“I’m living a constant nightmare – it’s horrible that I’m getting attacked like this when I don’t know why.

“I don’t know how much longer I can cope with this – when will it end?”

Mr Mayne confirmed that he had reported an incident of criminal damage to Gwent Police earlier this year, who did carry out an investigation, which has since concluded.

A spokesperson for Gwent Police said: “We received a report of criminal damage at an address on Plas Cae Llwyd, Llanbradach, at around 11.30pm on Friday 12 July.

“Officers have now concluded their enquiries and are no longer investigating.

“Reports of this nature are taken extremely seriously by Gwent Police but, on this occasion and after undertaking a detailed investigation, we will not be taking any further action.

“We encourage residents to report all incidents of criminal damage and anti-social behaviour to us so that we can take action.

“We always welcome relevant CCTV, dashcam or doorbell footage and, to make a report, contact us via our website, send us a direct message on Facebook or X, or call us on 101.

“Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 with information.”