NEIGHBOURS of a notorious troublemaker are celebrating after he was sent to jail for theft and witness intimidation.
Steven Taylor – who police say caused "numerous problems" around Caterham – has been put behind bars for 14 weeks.
Taylor hit the headlines back in April when he complained about being the target of a police armed siege. He was subsequently charged with no offence.
The father-of-one had already been banned for three years from all 15 pubs in the Caterham-on-the-Hill area in March last year after waging a campaign of intimidating and abusive behaviour
Just 12 hours after that sentence, he was hauled before the court and jailed for six weeks after he had breached the ASBO – having walked into The Village Inn in Coulsdon Road and refused to leave, whereupon the police were called.
And now Taylor, 43, who lives in Thomas Avenue, Caterham, has been imprisoned again after he admitted charges of theft and witness intimidation when he appeared before Staines magistrates on Friday, June 28.
One neighbour in Thomas Avenue, who insisted on remaining anonymous, said: "Steven Taylor has had this coming.
"He has been a bit of a pain in the neck.
"I just hope the prison sentence knocks some sense into him, but I'm not terribly confident it will."
Other neighbours said they were too concerned to speak at any length even off the record, beyond saying they were pleased he had been locked up.
Taylor was convicted for offences in May following the theft of a coat from a store in Godstone Road, Whyteleafe, where he threatened the shop manager with violence if he reported the theft to police.
He also admitted breaching his ASBO again, after entering the King and Queen pub in High Street, Caterham-on-the-Hill, in January this year.
Detective Inspector Antony Archibald from East Surrey CID said after the verdict: "Taylor has caused numerous problems in the Caterham area.
"I hope this sentence sends out a clear message that we will not tolerate this behaviour.
"No-one should be a victim of witness intimidation.
"Anyone who unfortunately finds themselves in a situation like this should contact officers.
"We will treat all information passed to us in the strictest of confidence and fully support victims, while bringing offenders to justice."
In April last year armed officers, accompanied by a force helicopter and police dog, stormed his house.
It followed an anonymous tip-off to Crimestoppers alleging that he had threatened another man with a gun.
Police arrested him at gunpoint in Coulsdon Road soon afterwards.
He was held at Reigate police station for almost 24 hours, and the next day he was freed without charge.
Mr Taylor, who admitted he had been "no angel" in the past, approached the Mirror three years ago to protest his innocence following the shooting of building firm boss Kevin Potter.
He walked free from court in 2000 after the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on a charge of conspiracy to murder.
