A COUPLE hounded their neighbours and made bogus complaints about them to the authorities.

Paul Nelson, 61, and Paul McGowan, 40, initially caused chaos at their former home in Glasgow's Jordanhill.

The pair monitored Frances Nixon, 74, and subjected her to excessive noise from the flat above hers.

Frances was forced to change her lifestyle in fear of McGowan and Nelson.

The men were moved below Julie McDonald in the city's Knightswood where they continued to wreak havoc.

They alleged that she made too much noise and accused her of having sex with men in her flat.

McGowan and Nelson were found guilty of engaging in a course of conduct which caused their victims fear or alarm after a 15-day trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The charge states the unemployed pair made false allegations about Frances and Julie to Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).

They are said to have monitored Frances and subjected her to noise at an excessive volume as well as post insulting remarks about her to social media.

The pair are stated to have told social work that Julie made excessive noise and there were welfare concerns.

McGowan and Nelson are finally said to have shouted, swore and uttered insults to Julie in front of children.

McGowan was also convicted of leaving rubbish at Julie's door and moving her bin.

Jurors heard from University of Glasgow invigilator Frances who stated that she was neighbourly with the pair when they moved in.

She quickly learned that the men did not want to live in the area and referred to it as "Jordanhell."

Frances stated that Nelson and McGowan made her life "unbearable" by playing loud music and were "shouting and bawling".

The victim - who lived alone - was too afraid to confront the pair and reported them to the GHA.

Frances claimed that matters escalated after McGowan and Nelson wrongly believed that she contacted the police.

She said: “When I was coming home, they would always be there - Mr McGowan would hang over the balcony."

Frances stated that after six gruelling months, she did contact the police and "all hell broke loose".

She said: “I could hear it in the garden or coming up the road that ‘the witch was coming’.

“They had a record of Wizard of Oz song Wicked Witch of the West which was played at full volume a couple of times in the garden and when coming up the road.”

McGowan would later claim that he played the song on the day that Margaret Thatcher died.

The men also posted insults on social media about Frances and falsely accused her of assaulting McGowan.

CCTV was installed in her property by the GHA for Frances' "safety".

She said: “I changed my life to be safe and not be in constant fear."

Frances however was reported to the GHA by the pair which even prompted visits from neighbourhood officer Basharat Sadiq, 55.

He claimed that he was subjected to comments and recorded by the pair but the charge concerning him was removed mid-trial.

Allegations that McGowan and Nelson also recorded Frances were deleted by the jury.

McGowan and Nelson were put on probation by the GHA and moved out of the flat in Jordanhill and moved to Knightswood in a flat below Julie.

There were initially no incidents between them but the pair went on to make complaints to the GHA and the police about her.

Jurors heard that a total of 47 complaints were made about Julie with only two that required minor action.

The men repeatedly shouted at Julie and children from their balcony and accused her of "having sex with several different men".

Prosecutor Carrie Stevens stated in her closing speech that the pair "started filming them and this was another example of McGowan and Nelson trying to intimidate her".

A police officer claimed to have found microphones leading through their ceiling and under Julie's floorboards.

The jury deleted allegations of the microphones from their verdict.

The men - who were former pub managers - told jurors in their evidence that they were the victims and had suffered homophobia.

The claims, jurors heard, were unfounded by the police.

McGowan stated that there was a "conspiracy" and that Frances and the GHA were working against them.

Both denied being verbally abusive to Frances but McGowan referred to her as a "hyena and a slob" when giving his evidence.

Sentence was deferred pending background reports by Sheriff Gerard Considine who continued Nelson and first offender McGowan's bail meantime.