COURT TOLD OF GARDEN OWNERSHIP DISPUTE

A“BIGOTED” woman of 81 has been warned by a judge that there is a “real risk” of her being jailed if she continues to harass her neighbours.

Kathleen Gilroy, of Ffordd Nantlle, Talysarn, Gwynedd, allegedly shouted at them that she was ringing police, made a rude gesture, threatened to damage fencing, and told a young boy she was filming him.

Prosecutor Karl Scholz said she was bigoted and “blindly and obstinately” following her belief that she owned her neighbours’ back garden and they had no right of access to a path. She had defaced signs previously and her unpleasant behaviour had a “serious impact” on the victims, particularly the child, he said.

Judge Timothy Petts at Caernarfon crown court imposed a 36 weeks jail term, suspended for 21 months. An indefinite restraining order bans her from watching or communicating with her nextdoor neighbours.

Judge Petts said Gilroy had admitted breaching the previous restraining order. A long-standing dispute about ownership of the rear garden had been resolved by a civil court ruling against Gilroy, he said.

“Your neighbours are entitled to peace and quiet in their house,” Judge Petts warned her. If she harassed them again, despite her age or health, there was a very real risk of being sent to prison.

Simon Killeen, defending, said Gilroy had spent thousands of pounds after living in a Travelodge for three months, awaiting the outcome of the case.

Her son felt there was a significant deterioration in her faculties. There was a letter from a doctor suggesting there might be a cognitive impairment. “Sending this lady immediately to custody would be not the right outcome,” the barrister added.

Gilroy’s house, where she’d lived for many years, was for sale.