Nightmare neighbour nicknamed 'Big Brother' faces jail after waging a vindictive smear and surveillance campaign against his neighbours in which he accused them of using drugs and inviting rapists into their home
A nightmare neighbour is facing jail after waging a vindictive smear and surveillance campaign against his neighbours in which he accused them of using drugs and inviting rapists into their home.
Matthew Kenyon, 36, became so 'fixated' with his neighbours — Carey and Rachel Styles — that he set up CCTV cameras to spy on them, a court heard.
During his 10-month campaign, Kenyon wrote a series of pen emails and made up complaints about the couple in a bid to get them to leave their £200,000 rented property in Widnes, Cheshire.
Nicknamed 'Big Brother', Kenyon wrote letters to the school where Mrs Styles worked as a teaching assistant, falsely claiming she and her husband mixed with 'prolific cocaine users'.
He also reported Mr Styles to the police and local council after Kenyon discovered he was unwittingly employing a convicted rapist as one of his labourers.
In one ranting email to local authorities, Kenyon referred to himself as a 'bulldog with a wasp in my mouth' and called Mr Styles a 'scumbag (who) has overstayed his welcome'.
The court heard Mr and Mrs Styles moved into the property at Pleasant Street in 2017, but they fell out with Kenyan when a gust of wind blew their van door against the bodywork of Kenyon's BMW.
They began feuding over the cost of repairs and Mr Styles was reported to police after he was repeatedly caught on Kenyon's CCTV hurling abuse and on one occasion spraying the BMW with bleach.
Matthew Kenyon, 36, (pictured) faces jail after being convicted of stalking
Rachel Styles (left) and husband Carey Styles (right) moved out of their home as a result of the smear and surveillance campaign by Kenyon
In 2022, Mr Styles was convicted of harassment and was fined £160 and had to abide by a six-month 'acceptable behaviour contract' drawn up by Halton Housing which rents out the property.
But Kenyon sent a slew of further complaints about Mr and Mrs Styles to various agencies in a spiteful attempt to have them moved on.
At Warrington Magistrates Court, Kenyon denied wrongdoing but was convicted of stalking after a trial.
In one of a series of emails to the headmistress at Mrs Styles school, Kenyon said of her friendship with another couple: 'It revolves around snorting cocaine and hosting parties all the hours.
'As Mrs Rachel Styles is employed as a teaching assistant, she's responsible for children in her care. How responsible can she be for those children if she is off her head on drink and drugs?
'She even went out until 4am on the day after the Queen had passed away.'
Kenyon further claimed Mr Styles had been convicted of criminal damage, driving at a pedestrian, intimidation and other 'behaviours' which he said were 'encouraged by his wife.'
One ranting email which ran to eight A4 pages and which copied in police, the local council and Ofsted read: 'I am a bulldog with a wasp in my mouth and I never once back down.
'I know this will go back to them, but I do not care. Mr Carey Styles and Mrs Rachel Styles both need to be drug tested. I will say until I am blue in the face.
Pictured: Pleasant Street in Widnes where the harassment occurred
'I do not want a convicted rapist visiting next door neither do residents. This scum bag has overstayed his welcome in Widnes. They need to pack their bags. I suggest that the police get in touch with me with regards the police complaint as I will be contacting them one last time today. Enough is enough.'
Mr Styles, 44, told the court: 'Some of the complaints were even about my singing. I was supposed to have been singing against him but the fact is I was singing in my van when coming home from work.
'I just wanted to abide with the order given by the court and get on with my life but I was constantly under observation. There were numerous cameras not only looking outside the property but inside my property and garden.
'We would tell people coming to my house: 'You are under observation. Big Brother is watching you.' I had to let people know not to speak outside my door as cameras were picking up every word they were saying.
'I explained to them not to speak outside and if they did speak to speak quietly.
'He could see straight into the back garden where we used to sit. We used to have a table and a jacuzzi which we had to move and then removed altogether because we knew that the cameras were observing into our private property.
'One camera was directly pointed at two side windows so we had to have our blinds on a tilt so you could not see through. We made numerous attempts to leave and even joined a couple of house swapping groups.
'He made living in our house an absolute misery. Every single minute in our property - even when the doors were closed and the blinds closed it was a misery for us. We had to move.
'I think he was trying to antagonise me, trying to rile me, trying to get me angry. I believe his motivation was to destroy our lives which we had worked so hard to get.
'It's potentially because of jealousy - he is jealous of the success that I've got. He does not like the way I am living my life. I am happy doing nice things but we were constantly under observation.
'We knew that he was trying to get us moved by false malicious allegations. In fact the police and the local housing association came together and told us it was in our best interests to move - based on safety, our wellbeing and sanity.'
Mrs Styles, 43, added: 'It was an absolute nightmare and a really horrible time in my life. I was dealing with cancer, dealing with the treatment and trying to recover from that. It was horrendous.'
Kenyon reported Mr Styles to the police and local council after he discovered Mr Styles was unwittingly employing a convicted rapist as one of his labourers. Pictured: Carey Styles
She said Kenyon had posted a message on social media plus a picture of the property and its full address saying the council was wanting to move them.
She added: 'It just made me feel sick and violated. Somebody came to the house at home in relation to the advert on social media. I was upset and crying and I was distraught. The man actually apologised and left.
'I just did not want to live there. I felt like I was being watched 24/7. It was a horrible environment to live in. The CCTV cameras were all over the house. One of the cameras had a voice recorder so they could hear our voices.
'It was horrendous. I loved my job and it really knocked my self-confidence. I think he was trying to ruin our lives, trying to get me a bad character and make me lose my job. Some days I just did not want to get up out of bed. I was so fed up. It was a horrible, horrible time.'
In his evidence Kenyon denied deliberately pointing his CCTV cameras at the Styles' property but said he had been advised by the council and police to compile a log of incidents following Mr Styles harassment conviction.
Kenyon said: 'I do not feel that either organisation took the reports after his conviction seriously. I have since been diagnosed with anxiety as a result of the harassment from him.
'I was frustrated because police and Halton Housing were not taking any action against the Styles, or confronting the harassment that he was causing us which was all backed up with evidence of CCTV.
'My observations are from what I've seen from just being around. Even on the front you see them quite often, and on the driveway. You do see a lot.
'When I am reporting to the authorities and they are not taking any action I'm not just going to forget about it. I wanted positive action to come from it.'
In convicting Kenyon JP Fraser Geekie said: 'It is clear to us that you could not accept the view of the authorities that the behaviour of your neighbours did not constitute harassment. As a result you acted in the manner alleged.
'The content of the emails went well beyond a rational intervention and you are completely unaccepting of the views of the authorities.
'There are many complaints which were unjustified. Your behaviour between September 1, 2022 and the June 10, 2023 was indeed unreasonable and irrational. This has at least passed the community penalty threshold and it might go further than that.'
Kenyon was told to return for sentencing on July 9.
