It only came to an end earlier this month, when Vieira was jailed for six months in the Magistrate’s Court for causing a public nuisance.
Speaking to Express, the woman shared what life was like being unable to find peace in her home; but she also offered hope to anyone facing their own battles against disruptive neighbours.
“At first, we tried to resolve the problems with them: we spoke to them politely and tried to let them know that we could hear them,” she said. “Other neighbours attempted to talk to them too.
“We initially thought it was just arguments about where to put the sofa or other disagreements that can happen when you move house. But when you hear smashing, you know it is something more serious.
“It was the constant repetitive noise, never letting up, getting louder and louder every day, especially at the weekends. I was only getting three-and-a-half hours’ sleep, which just isn’t enough to function on. Our pets were suffering too.”
Pictured: After receiving advice from Environmental Health, the woman kept a diary of her neighbour’s disruption.
The woman’s supportive landlady began eviction proceedings but then lockdown arrived. Not only did the process grind to a halt, but the disruption got a lot worse.
It was then that the woman decided that enough was enough.
“You have to think of your own health; and you have to make a choice that it is not going to affect you anymore. And you have to be proactive about it.
“If you can’t feel safe in your own house, then where else can you? You spend time building a home so you have to decide, do I give it up and move, or do I take a stand and fight for it?
“My husband and I did talk about moving but we both thought: ‘No, we love it here. Why do we have to go?’”
Fortunately, the woman had already started compiling a diary of disruption – a necessary piece of evidence to build a case against their neighbour.
“Before the lockdown, I had rung Environmental Health to see if there was anything I could do to help my landlady with evidence for the eviction and they told me to keep a diary of the noise complaints.
“The diary provided a bit of light at the end of the tunnel but when the neighbours’ arguments moved outside of the property, and they started involving me and my husband, we asked our landlady if we could install CCTV, which gave us video evidence as well.
Pictured: CCTV footage helped the police to build a case against the neighbour.
“We recorded everything and handed it over to the police. If you’re renting, you have to ask permission from your landlord and it could only cover our entrance but at least it gave us a little bit of sanity, knowing that our home was protected.
“The neighbours did point and laugh at it a few times; other times, they had obviously forgotten about it – it just depended how they felt on that particular day.”
With the noise becoming even more unbearable during lockdown, the woman’s only option was to ring the police, something she did more than 30 times. In total, the police came to the property more than 100 times over the course of a few months.
But far from being treated as a nuisance herself, the woman found the police to be responsive, understanding and helpful.
“They came every time I called and I probably know half the police by now. But like anything, it is a two-way street. You cannot expect to be helped if you don’t provide them with what they need.
“You not only have to provide evidence, which I did through my diary and the CCTV footage, but you have to stand up and be a witness. You have to commit to the process. And when one of our other neighbours found out what we were doing, he was very happy to come forward as well.”
Armed with the diary and other evidence, the police built a strong case against Vieira, who now faces the threat of deportation if she reoffends after her release from prison.
Pictured: The police attended every time the woman called to tell them about a particular incident.
The woman concluded: “It is a happy close now and we’re going into a ‘new normal’ for ourselves. Some aspects of our other neighbours’ lifestyles have returned, which is nice. It’s lovely to hear joyful music and laughter and see barbecues and people having fun: it’s like it was before they moved in.
“It is slowly coming back but it is going to take time; getting over that depth of trauma doesn’t happen overnight.”
Q&A…
Acting Chief Inspector Craig Jackson, who oversaw the case, explained what help is available to islanders experiencing similar problems…
Can I report parties and other one-off events?
“Single events, like a party, are usually one-off occasions, so usually a visit from the police is enough of a remedy,” he said. “If further action was needed, we would treat it as a public nuisance offence.”
What counts as a ‘public nuisance’?
“The law is pretty broad in this area and defines a nuisance as anything that affects a person’s life, health, comfort and morale. However, we typically need two complainants for us to respond.”
What about long-term problems?
“For long-term problems, Environmental Health would get involved. They work under a different set of laws and they can issue a noise abatement order. They also have specialist equipment, which they can install to record noise levels.
“We have an information sharing agreement with Environmental Health, so it is all joined up. A call to either agency will work but, obviously, people usually call the police if the noise is there and then.”