A MAN has gone on trial accused of stalking his neighbours in Kilmacolm by repeatedly staring in through the windows of their home, loitering outside the property, and making threatening remarks and gestures towards them.

Peter Muirhead's relationship with the couple 'rapidly deteriorated' in 2021 in a dispute over land ownership, Greenock Sheriff Court heard.

The 59-year-old's alleged behaviour caused his neighbours to "completely change the way they live our lives", a witness told the trial.

Muirhead is charged with engaging in a course of conduct which caused a man and a woman to experience fear or alarm between November 2021 and April 2022.

He is alleged to have repeatedly lingered for prolonged spells near the couple’s home and to have stared through windows at the property.

Prosecutors claim that Muirhead also took photographs and videos of the house, removed signs belonging to the owners, and made threatening remarks and gestures towards them.

A further charge alleges that Muirhead engaged in similar behaviour in April and May of last year, when it’s alleged that he repeatedly walked past the couple’s home, that he loitered outside the property, and that he looked in through their front door.

It’s alleged that Muirhead committed the 2023 offences while he was the subject of a bail order preventing him from entering the curtilage of the neighbours’ property and from approaching or contacting the couple and their children.

Muirhead, of Barclaven Road, Kilmacolm, denies all the charges against him.

(Image: Newsquest)

A part-heard trial at Greenock Sheriff Court heard evidence from the female complainer, who was shown several pieces of CCTV footage showing a man standing nearby the property or walking along its driveway.

The witness identified the man as being Muirhead, and said her family had previously enjoyed a ‘perfectly pleasant’ relationship with him – but that this ‘rapidly deteriorated’ in 2021.

The court heard that there had been disputes between Muirhead and the couple regarding access to 'green belt' land they had bought, as well as the accused walking along their driveway with his dog.

The witness noted that everything 'kicked off' after she and her husband refused to sell land to Muirhead.

She said he went from 'never' being on their driveway to 'being there all the time' and 'staring in windows'.

His alleged behaviour caused the complainers to install additional security cameras around the house, the woman said.

The witness told the court there had been several occasions when Muirhead was positioned outside the house with a “direct line of sight”into certain rooms, including the kitchen, bedrooms and hallways.

On one occasion, she said, he raised his hands.

She added: “It was just quite a threatening gesture, as if to say, ‘what are you going to do about it?’.”

The woman also told the court of a separate incident in which Muirhead allegedly stared in the front door of the property.

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She said: “It was really quite intimidating. I felt quite upset.

“We felt that it was about making his presence felt. It made me feel very uncomfortable and scared.”

The witness was also asked about an Inverclyde Council ruling in April 2022 which indicated that part of the couple’s land was exempt from public access.

She said was on holiday at the time, and received an alert from one of the property’s security cameras, which showed Muirhead on the land.

The woman added: “He wasn’t listening to authority. That made me very nervous.

“It’s completely changed the way we live our lives.

“This [court] is the last place I want to be. It’s a last resort.

“I feel there’s no other way to get peace of mind for my family.”

The trial, before Sheriff James Spy, is due to resume next month.