Elderly woman who waged 15-year hate campaign on working class neighbours is finally jailed

A pensioner who conducted a 15-year hate campaign against her neighbours after objecting to their humble background, has finally been jailed.

Kathleen Neal from Castle Donington, in Leicestershire, was handed an injunction in 2016, warning her to stop tormenting the couple next door.

But the 79-year-old refused to desist, continuing to spray weed killer and urine into their garden. She was also filmed on CCTV removing fence panels and kicking over pot plants.

Neal fell out with neighbour Susan Brookes in 2002 after objecting to her erecting wooden decking in the garden of her detached home. The pensioner also complained about her working class background, telling her at one point to "get back to your council house".

Neal was summoned to Nottingham Crown Court on Monday to stand trial accused of breaching the 2016 injunction, but she failed to turn up.

She was tried in her absence and found guilty of seven out of nine of the breaches.

His Honour Judge Godsmark QC said it was clear Mrs Neal was not taking the injunction seriously and jailed her for 28 days.

A warrant for her arrest was issued by Leicestershire Police and she was taken into custody Friday morning after officers arrested her at her £400,000 home.

It is the latest twist in a long running dispute between the middle class mother and her neighbours in the upmarket Nottinghamshire district of Castle Donington.

In 2017 she was fined £3,500 and last February was given an eight month suspended prison sentence.

Following the threat of a custodial sentence, Neal promised that she had "learned her lesson", but the district council was forced to take her to court again following a string of further incidents.

Mrs Brookes, the victim of Neal’s crimes, said:"Mrs Neal has finally got her comeuppance. She had previously got away with ignoring court warnings to the point where we would say 'she always comes home for tea', but not this time.

"The trouble started soon after we moved in. She has relentlessly targeted us with bonfires, weed killer, removed our garden panels and plagued us with silent phone calls. The things she has done against us have been so constant that they are too long to list.

"We have never done anything that could have provoked her. I think she took against us because she thinks we come from the wrong end of town. She certainly gives the impression that she thinks she's better than everyone else.

"Mrs Neal's actions were meant to drive us out. That is never going to happen. We will never leave this house.

"No one wants to see a 79-year-old woman jailed but it's hard to know what else the court can do. She has shown no remorse for her actions and only complete disregard and contempt for every court ruling.

“My husband and I hope that the shock and shame of serving a prison sentence will finally change her ways."

Mrs Brookes, 67, who ran a business employing carers before she retired, and her husband Keith Brookes, 70, a former maintenance engineer, moved in to their home, now worth £400,000, in 2002.

Councillor Trevor Pendleton, Chair of Safer North West Leicestershire Partnership said: “Neal has embarked on a campaign of intimidation and criminal damage against her neighbours and clearly did not listen to previous punishments and warnings made in court.

“We are committed to supporting the victim of this behaviour and this meant taking Neal back to court for her latest offences. Jail is a last resort but in this case nothing else has worked, including the countless warnings and fines.

“We hope that this short prison sentence will make Neal realise the seriousness of her crimes and bring an end to this matter.”

Inspector Richard Jackson from North West Leicestershire neighbourhood policing area said: “No-one should live in fear of their neighbour and unfortunately Neal has repeatedly refused to put a stop to her campaign of harassment and abide by the injunction.

“This left no other option but to go back to court as part of the legal process and as a very last resort. It is our hope that this sentence will finally put a stop to the behaviour which has blighted one family’s lives for some considerable time.”