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Neighbour jailed for abuse
A woman has been jailed after breaking the conditions of a restraining order - put in place after she was found guilty of harassing her drag artist neighbour - only hours after it was made.
June Jones yesterday admitted breaking the order imposed on December 7 after she had pleaded guilty to continually harassing her next-door neighbour, Martin Prescott.
Jones, 56, of Pryce Avenue, Higher Ince, was banned from speaking to or contacting Mr Prescott in any way, but on the day she was sentenced Jones directed comments towards him from her garden, Wigan magistrates heard.
Lucy Ashton, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Prescott heard Jones shouting: "Martin Prescott I am not the neighbour from hell, you are the neighbour from hell" and that she had "only got a small fine".
Ms Ashton told the court there had been numerous incidents of abuse which led to the restraining order being imposed.
She said: "Martin Prescott was in a homosexual relationship with another man and Ms Jones took exception to this."
Ms Ashton told the court that Jones had abused Mr Prescott many times and "significantly affected his way of life".
Mr Prescott contacted the police after the incident and Jones was arrested.
Colin Rawson, defending, told the court that the restraining order had been put in place because of "homosexual comments" Jones had made towards Mr Prescott, some of which related to his work as a drag artist.
He told the court that Jones, who lives alone with her three dogs, was upset because the case had attracted media attention, and that she could not recall making the comments due to "mental instability."
Mr Rawson added that Jones's drinking could exaggerate these problems, but there had been no complaints from Mr Prescott in the 10 days since the incident took place.
Magistrates told Jones that she had made Mr Prescott's life a misery, and sentenced her to seven days in prison for breaching the restraining order, and seven days concurrently for breaking the conditions of the original harassment charge.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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