Spanish Pianist Not Guilty of Noise Pollution

A Spanish court has acquitted a pianist who was facing seven years in prison of causing psychological damage and noise pollution.

The trial attracted worldwide attention after public prosecutors demanded a custodial sentence for Laia Martin, 28, over her piano playing.

Martin’s neighbour, Sonia Bonsom, complained she suffered anxiety from hearing eight-hour practice sessions, five days a week, between 2003 and 2007. At the time, Martin was a music student in the Spanish town of Puigcerdà. She is now a professional pianist.

Bonsom told the court that Martin’s practice schedule disrupted her sleep patterns and led her to develop serious anxiety issues. “This has caused me a great deal of stress,” she told the court. “There was even a moment when I couldn’t move my arm because of anxiety.”

She claimed she and her family had moved house to escape the noise.

Prosecutors eventually reduced their demand for jail time from seven years to 20 months. They asked to have Martin banned from any profession involving a piano for four years and for her to pay more than €20,000 (£16,700) in fines and damages. They also sought jail time for Martin’s parents, who were named as accessories.

According to a written ruling issued on Tuesday, the court in north-east Spain cleared Martin and her parents of both charges. The court said there was no evidence that the piano playing was the direct cause of Bonsom’s problems, and found her claims to be unreliable and exaggerated.

Noting that the family had taken measures to soundproof the room in the rental apartment where Martin practised, the judge also expressed disapproval that the case had gone as far as it had.

Bonsom told the court she now hates pianos so much she cannot even stand to see them in films.