A pair of north-east pensioners assaulted their “neighbour from hell” after years of torment, a court has been told.
Lawyers for Edith and John MacMillan said had been subject to a campaign of harassment and intimidation for more than two years before they finally “snapped”.
Dog faeces had been posted through their letterbox, washing had been sprayed with urine and stones had been thrown at their property, Elgin Sheriff Court was told.
The assault took place on July 12 last year when the couple returned to their Buckie home.
Fiscal depute Ruaridh Allison said the incident occurred on Muirton Way at around 3pm and the “heated argument” came about as the couple pulled their car to a stop because the neighbour’s children were on the street.
During the confrontation, Mrs MacMillan, 72, got out of the car and slapped the 36-year-old woman.
She was heard to tell the neighbour how she had suffered a stroke and begged her to stop the abuse.
As tensions escalated her husband, 75, jumped to her aid and punched the neighbour in the eye, drawing blood and leaving her needing stitches at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
Defence agent Pauline Chapman said the verbal abuse was caught on video and the neighbour made various derogatory comments, including calling the couple “old c**ts”.
“Claims were made that their lives became a living hell after the complainer moved in,” she said.
“Mrs MacMillan and her husband had lived there peacefully for over 20 years until the complainer moved in two years ago.
“Since then their quality of life deteriorated rapidly and complaints were made to the council and the police.
“Not only was there the dog excrement, but stones were also thrown into the garden, sometimes when Mrs MacMillan was feeding the birds.
“On the day in question she was driving around the corner and the children were in the middle of the road.
“She took action to avoid them but heard shouting. She got out of the car and didn’t realise at first that her neighbour was there.
“A recording of the incident shows shouting and abuse none of which came from her.
“At one stage Mrs MacMillan can be clearly heard saying ‘I have had a stroke’ and she is then seen to slap the complainer in the face.”
Neighbour from hell
John Macmillan’s defence agent, Ben Thom, said his client’s life had been made a “living hell” in the months prior to the incident.
“There were reports of dog faeces and bags being thrown in their garden and even on one occasion through the letterbox,” he said.
“Other incidents of clothes on the couple’s washing line being sprayed with urine had also been reported to the police.
“There was animosity at the time.”
He added that MacMillan jumped to the defence of his wife and admits throwing one “deliberate punch” which left a cut above the woman’s eye.
“He saw the complainer push his wife and saw red,” he added.
“He very much regrets his acting in this manner.”
Woman since moved on
He added that the complainer has since been moved from the street by the local authority due to antisocial behaviour complaints.
John MacMillan admitted one charge of assault and his wife admitted a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour and another of assault.
Sheriff Olga Pastpornikov admonished Edith MacMillan for her part in the incident and fined her husband £260.
The couple, of Muirton Farmhouse in Buckie, were not present in court when the case called yesterday.
