Tory councillor rips out autistic neighbour’s beloved hedge despite her pleas to stop

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Tory councillor has been charged with vandalism after he destroyed an autistic neighbour’s beloved hedge.Dorothy Welsh, 58, claims that she pleaded with Gavin Scott, 69, to leave her garden alone, but he refused to stop.Scott, who is a councillor for South Ayrshire, told the Record the Police Scotland would take no action over the incident, claiming it would be “case closed”.But officers confirmed a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.Dorothy broke down in tears as she told The Record: “I’m very nervous because I have autism.“When he started doing it, I asked him: ‘What are your intentions with my hedge?

I do not want you to touch or remove my hedge. I am the owner and this is my property and you need my permission’.“Then the following day I saw him removing my hedge again.

I got my phone and took a video of what he started doing with my hedge and prepared a statement for the police.“Then I contacted my friend who contacted the council on my behalf."I felt so powerless because I had done everything I could do."Dorothy, who rarely leaves her home and gets pleasure from tending to her garden, said it's "all she has".She continued: “I don't even go out so my garden is my whole life.

It is all I’ve got. I have nothing else.“I keep blaming myself and thinking, what did I do? I don’t know what I’ve done.”But a defiant Scott claims the hedge is council property and that he did nothing wrong.When confronted by the Record, he said: "This has been going on for three or four months now.