Mushrooms, maggots and mischief: Bad blood over B.C. farm leads to criminal conviction

The judge granted Brad and Darren Besler a conditional discharge with nine months probation for mischief.

Two brothers in Summerland, B.C., were convicted of mischief and sentenced to probation on Tuesday in a long-simmering and bizarre dispute with their neighbour.

On Tuesday, Penticton provincial court judge Michelle Daneliuk found Bradley and Darren Besler guilty of mischief for a series of events that occurred in the summer of 2019.

A property owned by their mother neighbours What the Fungus, a mushroom farm on Garnet Valley Road.

Daneliuk said in her judgment that the dispute began when the Beslers became upset by the existence of a mushroom farm next to the property, and in particular the noxious odours.

The property is owned by Thor Clausen, who required a bylaw variance to comply with district permitting regulations to continue operating the mushroom farm.

The Beslers mounted a public campaign in the hopes of getting the variance denied, but were unsuccessful.

The animosity between the two neighbours escalated from there.

Daneliuk said evidence suggested the Besler brothers drove their trucks along the property line to create dust clouds that wafted over the mushroom farm facility, parked a truck near the fence line and blared loud rap music, and shone high beam lights into their neighbour’s home in the dark hours.