Sunday 20 November 2022 06:50 PM Wheelchair-user academic who made her neighbour's life a 'misery' in ... trends now
An elderly academic who made her neighbour’s life a ‘misery’ in a decades-long feud sparked by a Frank Sinatra record has been jailed - days after going on the run.
Wheelchair user Elizabeth Hall, 76, was due to be sentenced earlier this month after admitting two breaches of restraining orders.
But on the eve of her appearance she wrote to the police officer in the case saying she would not be attending in a bid to highlight what she described as ‘a false narrative’ against her.
Hall suggested she might instead go to Derbyshire for the weekend with the friend she shares her home with, adding: ‘This is unnegotiable and I am adamant I shall appear when this suits me.’
A judge at Birmingham Crown Court promptly issued a warrant for her arrest and Hall was brought back to the same court on Thursday, where she was jailed for 18 months and ordered to pay neighbour Christine Penny £500 in compensation.
Wheelchair user Elizabeth Hall, 76, was due to be sentenced earlier this month after admitting two breaches of restraining orders
The dispute between the pair started when Hall accused Mrs Penny of playing the 1968 Sinatra hit My Way too loudly at their luxury apartment block in Edgbaston, Birmingham, in 1996.
The bad blood included accusations by Hall that Mrs Penny pushed dog food through her letter box and flooded her property.
Judge Roderick Henderson said Hall had been the subject of restraining orders for the last three-and-a-half years but breached them at least seven times.
The court heard that in May, Hall posted what she said was a ‘newsletter’ to flats in her accommodation, including the address of the victim.
The judge added: ‘You described it as a newsletter as if it was something neutral. That was very far from the truth.
‘It was, in effect, a poison pen letter repeatedly referring to the complainant as framing her and perjuring herself in court. It is easy to underestimate how distressing and hurtful this conduct and continuing harassment can be.
‘There is a real risk or real harm to the complainant from this behaviour
