A mum-of-three who terrorised Banchory residents by smashing windows, making racist comments and accusing people of incest has been jailed.
Claire Stewart, also known as Mathieson, carried out her campaign of abuse during August and September this year.
She appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday via video-link and admitted property damage, threatening or abusive behaviour and sending offending messages.
The 36-year-old began her crime spree on August 18, a few days after having an argument with her next-door neighbours.
Fiscal depute Lynzi Souter said the couple had been woken by a “bang” on their windows, but looked out and could not see the culprit.
In the morning, they noticed a scratch on their Ford Fiesta but could not understand where it had come from.
Later that day, the banging started once more and the man immediately called the police.
As he did, he spotted a rock being lobbed over his garden fence and Stewart walking away from it.
Five rocks were identified by police as having been chucked – including one which broke a window.
Stewart later admitted to “tanning” the car, leaving the couple footing a £3,500 repair bill.
A few days later she unleashed a racist tirade after interrupting a phone call between an acquaintance and another woman.
The pair had been discussing a possible altercation between their children when, “for unknown reasons”, Stewart joined the conversation.
She called the other woman a “Bible basher” and said she would be “better off going back to England,” before accusing her of incest and threatening to attack her home.
On September 1, Stewart made a number of phone calls to a man and said: “Everyone knows what you are – a rapist.
“You should be looking over your shoulder.”
In the days which followed, she continued to accuse the man of this while also sending similar offensive messages to his mother, uncle and brother, calling him “dirty” and “sick”.
On September 5, Stewart struck again, this time using Facebook to demand payment from a woman for one of her children’s broken phones.
“You’re barking up the wrong street,” she wrote, adding: “I want money for the phone or I will take the money’s worth and more from your property.”
The woman ignored the messages, and the several follow-ups which only contained varying quantities of question marks.
On September 16, Stewart approached a group of youths outside a shop, who agreed to lead her to the woman’s house.
Mrs Souter said: “The accused then picked up a rock and threw it at the living room window.
“Witnesses described hearing it smash and the accused making off, stating: ‘Don’t mess with me, boys’.”
Sheriff Andrew Wallace sentenced Stewart, of Highwood in Banchory, to 120 days behind bars.
He also imposed two years of social work supervision and several non-harassment orders to help protect some of her victims.
