Gran squirted neighbour with disinfectant over fears she would catch coronavirus
A GRAN who accidentally squirted her next door neighbours with disinfectant out of fear she would contract Covid-19 has been convicted of assault
Countryside warden Jane Downall, 61, used the anti-bacterial spray to clean her garden fence after Samantha Fisher and her daughter Ebony leaned over them to chat to another neighbour three doors down.
But as she unleashed the spray, droplets of the potentially corrosive liquid inadvertently hit the faces of Mrs Fisher and Ebony and both had to seek medical treatment in hospital for suspected burns.
Police later arrested Downall after officers arrived at the scene in Heywood to find the victims had suffered redness to their faces. Both did not suffer lasting injuries. Mrs Fisher’s husband Clifton was also sprayed but dodged the chemical particles. At Tameside Magistrates’ court Downall was convicted of common assault. She later appealed against the verdict but last week her plea was thrown out by a judge who conditionally discharged her for six months.
The court heard Downall who worked at Daisy Nook country park near Oldham had been living next door to the Fishers since 2013 but the neighbours had repeatedly made complaints about each other after Mr Fisher erected the fence in 2018 to separate their respective gardens.
The incident occurred on April 5 last year just two weeks after the government imposed lockdown restrictions.
In court Downall said: “I was frightened of Covid and conscious of the two-metre rule. I was speaking to another neighbour Cynthia and the Fishers were speaking across our two gardens. They were shouting and there was spit and saliva coming out of their mouth.
“It was at the start of the Covid and we were in lockdown. I was safeguarding Cynthia and my mum and dad. I was very conscious that the virus could have been airborne, because at the time, no one was sure how you caught Covid. I didn’t want to catch anything.
“I didn’t intend to spray them with the spray and I thought they were being ridiculous.”
In rejecting Downall’s appeal. Judge Angela Nield sitting with two magistrates said: “We are conscious of this becoming part of a protracted saga which does not help anyone. This was a reckless not an intentional assault.’’