Scots author and wife made neighbour's lives 'living hell' claiming they sold drugs and neglected kids

A disabled author and his wife have been found guilty of carrying out a hate campaign against their neighbours - including making malicious claims of child abuse and drug dealing.

David and Jacqueline Aston targeted their neighbours by recording them "almost on a daily basis" and making false reports to the police and local authority over a three year period.

Jacqueline Aston, 58, reported one horrified neighbour to the General Teaching Council for Scotland in a bid to wreck her teaching career claiming she was neglecting her children.

READ MORE:Drive-by shooting thug jailed after gun and bullets found in Paisley home

READ MORE:Two men in court charged with murder of Scots dad who died after 'attack' on work trip

The staff nurse also claimed the woman's partner was running a business from his home and accused him of assaulting her at a plush estate in North Berwick, East Lothian.

The neighbours said they were left "scared and worried" after discovering David Aston, 55, had written a book called A Stroke of Fortune that featured a character who develops superpowers following a stroke.

The character then uses his superpowers to wreak revenge on the local community.

Aston, a former chartered accountant, penned the novel after suffering serious injuries including brain trauma and a massive stroke following a motorway car crash 10 years ago.

The victims of the couple described their three year ordeal as "intimidating", "utterly appalling" and "a living hell" as well as seriously affecting their health.

The Astons denied all the allegations made against them and have stood trial over 21 days in a hearing spanning 11 months at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

High school teacher Catriona Henderson and her partner Stuart McMorris moved into the estate with their children in 2018 and first fell out with the Astons over the positioning of bins.

Ms Henderson, 45, told the trial Jacqueline Aston had subsequently contacted the GTCS to report her for neglecting her children and claim she was using drugs including laughing gas and crystal meth.

Ms Henderson said Mrs Aston had told the teaching authority she had locked one of her children out in the cold without adequate clothing in the middle of winter.

The teacher said the Astons had repeatedly made "malicious" complaints about her family and the local authority alone had received 140 complaints in just five months during 2019.

She also told the court she was left "scared and worried" after finding out about David Aston's book and believed her family may been used as "a project" for the novel.

Mr McMorris, 46, told the court he was left "astonished" when he found David Aston's online profile and read the description of the novel in April 2020.

He said: "I'm shaking at the moment just thinking about this. We were almost living what we were reading here."

Mr McMorris said a complaint was also made to the NSPCC by "an anonymous neighbour" who claimed he and his partner were neglecting and abusing their children.

Neighbour Marie Bain told the trial the Astons had made her life "a misery" due to them using phones and cameras to record her "almost on a daily basis".

Mrs Bain, 67, said her neighbours raised a court action against her and during the legal process discovered they had made 248 recordings of her family - including 67 times in just one day.

Husband Robert Bain, 64, described the "constant monitoring" as "stalking" and said he was eventually forced to cancel family gatherings in their garden.

The engineer said: "We moved to North Berwick to our dream home to retire to, but the dream has turned to a nightmare."

The Astons told the trial the neighbours "did not like us" and had made up the allegations in a bid to make them move away from the estate.

Jacqueline Aston also claimed the reports to the police, the council and the GTCS were not malicious as she had grounds for concern over her neighbour's behaviour.

She said she and her husband were keen bird watchers and regularly used cameras and binoculars to enjoy their hobby while inside their home.

But after 20 days of evidence from 17 Crown witnesses and four defence witnesses Sheriff John Cook found the Astons guilty of causing three sets of neighbours fear and alarm between October 2018 and October 2021.

Jacqueline Aston was also found guilty of assaulting Marie Bain by striking her with a bin and to breaching bail conditions on three occasions.

On Thursday, Sheriff Cook deferred sentence on the Astons for the preparation of reports to next month.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.