Exposed: Filthy flasher who waged crazy campaign of harassment against neighbours

Nightmare neighbour Peter Brady confronted residents in Bridge Street in Lurgan on a daily basis about just about everything - even egging them on to punch him.

He caused regular embarrassment by accusing people visiting his neighbours as either being "prostitutes" or of being "in the IRA".

He had neighbours arrested by claiming - completely falsely - they'd threatened to kill him or had assaulted him.

"He seemed to think the PSNI was his own personal police force," says Glenn Bell, one of the neighbours Brady tortured.

"He got me arrested and I was taken into custody for over an hour after he told the police I'd threatened to kill him. Only for the fact another neighbour had witnessed him starting on me and told the police Brady was making it up, I could have been charged.

"The police initially seemed to believe his stories for a while but after being called out over 100 times they had had enough too. The police were out to me 17 times and other neighbours had it even worse.

"Eventually the PSNI felt it was time to put an end to him madness and they took statements from us all and sent a file to the PPS."

In July 2019, Brady stood naked at his downstairs flat front window exposing his genitals to a shocked woman across the road who he was last week convicted of harassing.

Cops became so fed up with Brady wasting their time they decided to prosecute him, deeming his constant fake claims of criminality as harassment.

Brady - known by some residents of Bridge Street as 'Mr Mayhem' - was finally convicted in court last week of two counts of harassment on two neighbours and a further count of exposing himself.

He was found not guilty of a third count of harassment against another neighbour on a technicality, but a court has ordered him to serve a probation order and leave his neighbours alone.

Brady is almost a permanent fixture outside his front door. In fact if you search his Bridge Street address on Google earth you'll see Brady in the Google Earth image!

He uses a mobility scooter and is regularly spotted driving around the local streets.

The 49-year old, who we can reveal was forced to leave another part of Lurgan after similar nuisance behaviour, is originally from Co Down.

Now residents in Bridge Street want the housing association to 'bin' him following his convictions, fearing he'll 'rubbish' the court's direction to leave them alone.

One of the neighbours Brady targeted over the last three or four years has bravely spoken out about the impact he's had on his neighbours.

Glenn Bell lives in the flat above Brady and says he is considering taking legal action against the Housing Association to get him out of the street.

"It's had a terrible impact on my mental health," said the 62-year-old this week. "It's had a terrible impact on all of our health, not just mine.

"Now he's been convicted in court he has got to go because nobody believes he'll suddenly change his ways and it's not fair we have to live this way anymore.

"This is a nice area of town but Peter Brady has made living here a misery. He complained and moaned about absolutely everything we did.

"It was everything from calling the police to claim I'd threatened to kill him to taking your bins in before they'd been emptied by the council.

"It wears you down. Some of the stuff might sound silly but after years of being afraid to leave your own house in case he's there and he starts a row, we deserve a break.

"He would confront you on a daily basis and make wild accusations," he says. "We tried to ignore him but over lockdown he just got worse.

"He'd start on you anytime you left the house, front or back, he'd start on you when you came home. If you had a female friend call at the house he'd accuse them of being a prostitute.

"He accused me of being a druggie and buying drugs. I've never taken drugs in my life. He accused another man of being in the IRA. He was just a member of the Workers' Party for goodness sake.

"I had to get MLA Dolores Kelly to help me get the Housing Association to build a big fence out my back because Brady was making my life a nightmare.

"Even after he was charged he'd stand behind the big fence when I was out and he'd start shouting about how his barrister was going to tear me apart in court and he'd win the case."

The flashing incident deeply disturbed the local community and they were further disturbed when, following his unwanted public striptease, he blacked out the window meaning he can see out but nobody can see in.

"There's something not right about him doing that, is there?" says Glenn.

Another resident who lived close to the area told the Sunday World: "I would regularly pass through the Bridge Street area of Lurgan and it would regularly look like what could best be described like a scene from the film Falling Down.

"Peter Brady was regularly in a stand-off with either neighbours or members of the public with a cascade of police cars and police surrounding them with Brady waving his walking stick, shouting and roaring.

"During lockdown it was the only show in town as crowds of residents would gather at either ends of the street as the daily madness unfolded.

"While it might have been entertainment for some of us, for those living beside him I'm sure it was a nightmare.

"Everyone in the area got to know about him and his antics."

Glenn Bell said he agreed to give evidence in court in what turned out to be a contested trial as Brady refused to plead guilty.

"A few of us gave evidence," says Glenn. "I told the judge that I didn't want to be here, that I had no criminal convictions and I just wanted to be left alone to live in peace."

Whether Glenn and the rest of the community will be able to do that remains to be seen.

Last night the PSNI reiterated their commitment to tackling the issue of neighbour harassment, adding that behaviour like Peter Brady's can have a "detrimental effect on the victims".

Superintendent Bernard O'Connor told the Sunday World: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland is committed to doing everything we can to keep communities safe and free from harassment, of any kind.

"Your home is a place where you should feel safe and your neighbours can play a huge part in that feeling of safety.

"We take reports of false allegations and harassment of this kind seriously as they can have a detrimental effect on the victims, with a feeling of not being able to escape this harassment as the offender is your neighbour.

"If someone out there is facing similar harassment or intimidation of any kind by someone in their community, please report to police on 101 or 999 in an emergency."

steven.moore@sundayworld.com