Man 'mimicked' disabled boy, five

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Police hiding in a car with a disabled boy and his parents as they made the morning school run saw a man mimicking the child, a court has heard.

Officers carried out a surveillance operation after a complaint from the boy's mother, District Judge Andrew Shaw, sitting at Prestatyn, was told.

They saw Steven Beavan, 35, of Rhyl, Denbighshire, tap his head, adopt a limp and make ape-like expressions.

Mr Beavan denies a charge of harassment and the hearing continues.

The district judge heard that the leisure centre assistant had been involved in a lengthy dispute with the family of the disabled boy, who cannot be identified.

Prosecutor David Mainstone said he was not calling the mother as a witness because it was accepted that some of her evidence could not be relied upon.

Daughter's buggy

He said the mother's behaviour towards the defendant had been "reprehensible".

The court heard that over a six-year period the couple had allegedly called Mr Beavan various abusive names including "vermin", "scum", "gayboy" and "gaylord". They had had leaflets addressed to "gaylord" sent to his house.

Mr Mainstone said the prosecution case relied on the evidence of the officers who had witnessed Mr Beavan's behaviour and the way it had upset the boy's mother.

Three officers told the court that she had been reduced to tears after seeing his actions, which they understood to be mimicking her five-year-old son.

Some of the incidents were also captured on the Rhyl town CCTV cameras as they couple passed Mr Beavan near a bridge on the way to school.

The district judge rejected a submission by defence barrister Tom Bureau that there was no case to answer as he said the defendant had been patting his head to control his unruly hair and limping while leaning over his daughter's buggy.