‘Deplorable’ Ashfield councillor guilty of harassing neighbours by lying to police

District judge Leo Pyle described Coun Tom Hollis's behaviour as ‘deplorable’ and ‘oppressive’ and said he ‘sought to utilise his public office in an inappropriate way’.

Phone footage taken by his neighbour's wife showed the Ashfield Independent councillor shouting abuse over their six-feet-tall fence before making the 999 call on Windmill Close, Huthwaite, on May 16, 2020.

Mark Fielding, prosecuting at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court, said: “While on the phone he play-acted as if he was being chased by the male victim with a knife.

“He ran into his house, squealing, almost crying, shouting ‘don’t come at me with that’. While in the house he carried on with the call and claimed the male victim had chased him with a knife.

“By the utmost good fortune this was all caught on camera. If it hadn't been filmed his neighbour would have been carted away based on a malicious concocted 999 call.”

Finding Hollis guilty, the judge described ‘the whole scenario’ as a fiction, which wasted the time of two officers during a national emergency.

The two-day trial heard tensions flared when Hollis’s neighbours told the police he had breached Covid regulations by hosting council meetings from his hot tub in the back garden.

The court heard Hollis, Ashfield Council member for Huthwaite & Brierley and Nottinghamshire Council member for Sutton West, did much ‘unheralded’ good work during lockdown and was entitled to work at home as a key worker.

Hollis repeatedly accused his neighbour of being a paedophile, but was unable to produce evidence his neighbours had hurled homophobic abuse in a bid to derail his political career.

He also parked a caravan outside their house and threatened to build a 2ft wall around their property after they installed a CCTV camera.

Hollis, aged 29, of Yew Tree Drive, Huthwaite, who had denied two counts of harassment without violence, also wrote a letter of complaint that tried to ‘defuse the situation’ on official council notepaper, which only succeeded in intimidating his neighbours.

Summing up, District Judge Pyle said attempts to argue the footage had been doctored were ‘fantasy’.

He ordered a pre-sentence report, leaving all sentencing options available, and bailed Hollis until October 13.

Coun Hollis is reportedly considering appealing his conviction.

A spokesman for the Ashfield Independents said: “We understand Coun Hollis is looking at all options to appeal. Therefore it would be inappropriate to comment on any detail that relates to the current conviction.”