Pianist who tormented neighbor could face more than 7 years in prison

A case in Spain (in the city of Puigcerda) caught the attention of the world press this week: a pianist could face more than seven years in prison for upsetting her neighbor from the upstairs apartment, who claims that her music professional's constant practice caused psychological damage.

Pianist Laia Martin is also facing a ban in which she could spend four years without playing any kind of musical instrument and may still have to pay a fine of about $ 13, 000. All of this is the result of a fight that has been going on for ten years between neighbors over the need for the pianist's demanding practice.

Endless music

According to Sonia Bosom, the troubled neighbor, Laia played her piano eight hours a day, five days a week, from 2003 to 2007. She said this practice plagued her deeply during this period, disrupting her sleep and leading to anxiety problems. serious. So much so that she and her family were forced to relocate to escape the noise in 2007.

The case has been taken to court, and now a judge in the Spanish city of Girona is putting the pianist - and her parents - in the spotlight and she could face seven and a half years in prison on her neighbor's charges. The prosecution stipulated a six-year sentence for acoustic pollution and a year and a half for psychological damage.

Defense lawyers argue that the proposed sentence is completely "out of proportion" and that the pianist has never practiced 40 hours a week.

The other side

Laia, now 27, denies that she played all these hours and said she practiced at home more on weekends.

His parents also say they did everything they could to correct the noise problem, including soundproofing the practice room and the piano itself. They also claim that they had their daughter practice elsewhere and even in nearby cities.

The prosecutor said some tests revealed that the sound levels produced by the piano were repeatedly up to 10 decibels higher than the 30 decibel limit set for musical instruments in the city.

Nuria Blanes, an environmental scientist at the University of Barcelona, ​​said noise around 40 decibels "is not much." According to her, a normal conversation between two people produces 55 to 60 decibels.

However, she also noted that some studies have established links with health problems, such as sleep disorders and cardiovascular disease, if one faces a constant noise level of over 40 decibels at night.

Psychological damage

On Monday, the first day of the trial, El Pais reported that Sonia told the court she has now taken so much horror into pianos that she can't even see them in a movie.

The prosecution claims that Laia's years of constant piano practice caused serious psychic damage in Sonia. Medical reports presented in court showed that she suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks and even problems with the pregnancy of her second child, who was born in 2006.

Despite the alleged clarifications from Laia and her family, Sonia Bosom told the court: "This caused me a great deal of stress. There was even a time when I couldn't move my arm because of anxiety."

The trial began last Monday and is scheduled to end on Friday (15/11). Soon we will know the results and come back to announce the verdict. Place your bets, readers. Who wins: the pianist or the annoyed neighbor?