A woman has been jailed after leaving her neighbour feeling like a “prisoner in my own home”.
Helen Watson, of Heather Place in Oxford, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Monday after admitting to four breaches of a restraining order committed between December 7 and 10 last year.
The restraining order had been imposed in October last year following Watson’s conviction for harassment and threats to kill against her neighbour Rachael Bashford-Rogers, the court heard.
Watson had been handed a suspended prison sentence at that time, which she violated through her latest offending.
The court heard that Watson photographed Ms Bashford-Rogers through her window before launching into verbal tirades that evening.
Prosecutor Leandra Smith said the couple’s three-year-old was able to hear the defendant shouting abuse and swearing.
The following day, Ms Bashford-Rogers recorded Watson shouting: “F**k off, nobody wants you here.”
On December 10, Watson directed her abuse at the young child, saying: “Your mummy and daddy f**king lie to you” and “they f**king hate you”.
Watson was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Monday
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In her victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Bashford-Rogers described the toll Watson’s behaviour had taken on her wellbeing, saying it had made her mental health “so bad”.
She she felt “exhausted” by the ordeal and was left struggling to sleep.
“I don’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own home,” she said.
The court heard that the dispute between the neighbours began in 2023, when Watson accused Ms Bashford-Rogers and her husband of damaging her property following a leak.
The court heard dispute between the neighbours began in 2023
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In mitigation, the court was told Watson had experienced a difficult childhood and faced losing her council property after three months in custody.
Judge Emma Nott told Watson: “You don’t understand the damage your behaviour does to other people.”
Watson was jailed for 16 months.