A neighbourhood dispute has left an elderly woman serving a four-month prison term.
Magistrates in Colchester imposed the sentences yesterday after hearing Elizabeth Masters, 72, had earlier admitted breaching a restraining order.
The court also heard Masters had admitted two charges of harassment, two of assaulting police officers and another of criminal damage relating to incidents at her former home in Thatchers Drive, Elmstead Market.
Stephen Butler, prosecuting, said as a result of previous events, a restraining order had been put on her by magistrates in April to stay away from her neighbours Patrick and Valerie Gonzalez.
But he said several incidents had occurred, beginning in September, where Masters had shouted and sworn at Mr Gonzalez and made rude comments about his wife.
On other occasions, she made offensive remarks at the doctors' surgery in Chapel Lane and shouted at other neighbours living in the road, calling them names.
Mr Butler said the couple had eventually gone to police saying they had high blood pressure and the incidents were making them ill.
He said on October 2, when an official from her solicitor's firm was visiting, police came to talk to Masters about the incidents but she became abusive and when police tried to arrest her, she struggled.
He said she was verbally abusive and kicked one of the officers in the elbow before pouring a bottle of water over a computer keyboard, causing £20 in damage.
Dennis Brown, mitigating, said Masters had lived in council accommodation all her life and never had any problems but from the beginning had not got along with Mr and Mrs Gonzalez.
He said as a result, she had lost her home because she could not go back while there was a restraining order.
Magistrates jailed her for one month for breaching the order, two months for the harassment charges and three months, to run concurrently, for the assault on police officer charges.
The restraining order will continue for another year.
Published Wednesday, December 11, 2002
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