A Pontardawe woman who persistently played loud dance and rap music has been ordered to pay fines, costs and a victim impact surcharge totalling £2,314 by Swansea Magistrates.
Adele Pugh, 36, of Lon yr Ysgol, Rhos, Pontardawe, admitted five counts of failing to comply with a noise abatement notice served on her under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990.
All the offences took place in August this year.
Neath Port Talbot Council environmental health officers took action after receiving complaints from the public.
The music she was playing was described by the council officials as “bassy, dance and rap, generally with thudding beats”, with some lyrics containing foul language.
The officers added on some occasions after responding to complaints, they could clearly hear the music in the street after getting out of their cars.
At Swansea Magistrates Court on October 20th , 2020, the defendant was fined £200 for each of the five noise abatement notice breaches, ordered to pay £1,000 as a contribution toward prosecution costs, plus a £34 victim impact surcharge. These offences took place within the operational period of a Suspended Sentence Order previously imposed, for a different matter, upon Ms Pugh, and she was further ordered to pay a fine of £80 for this breach..
She was also ordered to forfeit the hi-fi and speakers seized by environmental health officers as part of enforcement measures.
The magistrates said they “took a dim view” of the offences because of their anti-social nature and their effect on neighbours.
Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Protection, Cllr Leanne Jones, said: “As this case has shown our officers are still working hard on behalf of the public during the current health emergency and the level of financial penalties imposed here shows the courts take noise nuisance cases very seriously.”
