Heliport ban for Cardiff woman who spied on staff

A woman who blocked access to a heliport and followed staff home has been given a restraining order banning her from the site.

Kerry Pope, 42, from Whitchurch, Cardiff, also used a telescope to spy on workers at Cardiff Heliport in the Tremorfa area of the city.

Cardiff Magistrates' Court heard Pope believed the site was being used for private pesticide-spraying flights.

She was given a three-year restraining order and a 12-month community order.

The site is used for take off and landings by South Wales Police helicopters and the Welsh Air Ambulance charity.

Pope, who is allergic to pesticides, thought flights were being used by a company she named as PDG to spray chemicals from the air to control the invasive Japanese knotweed plant.

Prosecutor Sol Hartley told the court it was a case of harassment without violence and Pope had been seen at the site approximately 14 times.

The court heard Pope used her car to block the gates to the heliport and tried to contact staff.

Mr Hartley said: "Some employees were followed by Pope when they were leaving the site and she was spotted spying on staff using a telescope.

"She believed the helicopters were spraying Japanese knotweed pesticide which she was allergic to and that she was being spied on.

"She was attending at the site to collect evidence to give to the police at a later date."

Pope had pleaded guilty to harassment last month.

Fazila Aslam, defending, said: "Clearly this heliport and the concerns she has with that is a bugbear for her."

Pope was also ordered to complete a 25-day rehabilitation activity, fined £80 and ordered to pay £170 court costs.