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Pensioner, 81, caught attacking neighbour through window after row about parking

Eunice Day, from Ferndown, Dorset, was found guilty of assault after attacking her neighbour over a parking dispute.

Watch: Pensioner attacks neighbour through kitchen window after parking row

This is the moment an 81-year-old woman attacked her neighbour through a kitchen window after a row over parking.

Eunice Day was found guilty of assaulting her neighbour, Suzanne Webb, in Mountbatten Drive in Ferndown, Dorset, on 20 June last year.

Day attacked Mrs Webb, who is in her 60s, following a row about parking on a communal grass verge in the cul-de-sac, Poole Magistrates' Court heard.

Mrs Webb filmed the incident on her mobile phone and the footage shows Day reaching through a kitchen window and over a potted geranium plant to assault her.

Eunice Day, pictured, was found guilty of assaulting her neighbour. (BNPS)
Eunice Day, pictured, was found guilty of assaulting her neighbour. (BNPS)

The court heard Day had upset her new neighbours soon after moving into her rented bungalow by parking her Audi on a patch of grass.

She kept it on the grass for several weeks, the court was told, preventing homeowners from cutting it.

When Mrs Webb asked her to move her car, Day replied that she could "park wherever I like", the court heard.

It was told Day escalated the feud by using her wheelie bin to block a private footpath leading to five detached homes.

It was also claimed that she sat outside on her mobility scooter in an attempt to intimidate her neighbours.

After the five residents complained to Day's letting agent, she "aggressively" knocked on Mrs Webb's front door.

Eunice Day at the window of her neighbour's kitchen where she carried out her assault. (BNPS)
Eunice Day at the window of her neighbour's kitchen where she carried out her assault. (BNPS)

Mrs Webb filmed the incident on her phone. The footage shows Day reaching over a window box and hitting the phone out of her hand.

Mrs Webb had her six-year-old granddaughter with her at the time and she was left frightened by the incident, the court heard.

Day argued she had acted in self-defence and thought her neighbour was holding a knife and not a phone.

Mrs Webb, who has lived in Mountbatten Drive for 25 years, told the court the problems started soon after Day moved in on 1 April 2022.

She said: "She had parked her Audi on the private strip of land we share between our five houses.

"I asked her who it belonged to when I was out on a walk and she said something like, 'I can park where I like'. It sat there for weeks. We found the situation uncomfortable."

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Day said she thought she owned the patch of land.

She said: "They kept saying that my car was on their property. I had already told Mrs Webb that I would look into the Land Registry and if my car was parked illegally I would move it.

"Then I had an email from them asking me to move my car so that they could mow their communal lawn. I pay a person to cut the lawn and I cut that part. At that time it was so hot that the grass was barely there."

Eunice Day's home, circled, in Mountbatten Drive in Ferndown, Dorset, where she and her neighbours had a row over parking. (BNPS)
Eunice Day's home, circled, in Mountbatten Drive in Ferndown, Dorset, where she and her neighbours had a row over parking. (BNPS)

Jason Spelman, prosecuting, said: "The defendant has gone there in a temper to talk about what has been going on, blocking the drive and leaving bins on pavements.

"This was never going to be a friendly visit to her neighbour. The complainant has opened the window with one hand and is filming well inside the house with the other.

"She physically could not have reached out of the window to threaten the defendant because of her height. You cannot hear Mrs Webb saying anything aggressively.

"The suggestion that the complainant had a knife is ridiculous."

Michael McGhie, defending, said his client had been acting in self-defence.

He said: "My client wanted to go round and clear the air with the woman she thought was making all of the complaints.

"My client has had a number of recent eye operations and she was under the impression that a knife came towards her."

However, Day was found guilty of assault.

Magistrate Paul Kemp said: "The mobile phone and video footage was quite clear.

"The complainant's hand did not go outside of the window frame and the defendant reached in and slapped the phone from her hand.

"We do not accept that this was in self-defence. We find the case proven beyond reasonable doubt."

Day was given a conditional discharge as there was no evidence that Mrs Webb sustained any injuries in the skirmish. She was also ordered to pay £646 in costs.