SPITTING NEIGHBOUR WAS REPORTED TO THE POLICE 70 TIMES BEFORE HER ARREST
NIGHTMARE neighbour Loretta Diplacido threw a hot cup of tea over a grandmother, spat at the family living next door and shouted abuse at their young children during a two-year reign of terror.
Schoolteacher Mark Duckworth, 43, reported her to police 70 times but no action was taken – leaving the family terrified to leave their home.
Eventually, Mr Duckworth, of Leeds, forked out hundreds of pounds on a CCTV system, which captured council tenant Diplacido grabbing Mr Duckworth’s mother-in-law, Azadeh Kent, 64, injuring her finger.
Diplacido was finally arrested last summer when she threw hot tea over Mrs Kent, who managed to film the attack on her mobile phone. p Diplacido, p , 55, was given a community order in August last year for assault at Leeds magistrates’ court – but the council allowed her to return to the house and the problems have continued.
Mr Duckworth said he no longer reported what he calls ‘minor stuff’ to police, adding: ‘She stands there at her gate just staring, eyeballing each member of the family, including the children. It is intimidating.
‘There is no point calling the police. We think it just aggravates things now. We know this low-level stuff is not going to get a result.’
The Duckworths have put up a tarpaulin as a makeshift screen to stop their nuisance neighbour looking into their back garden. Mr Duckworth said he would welcome a ‘lowering of the bar’ in the law allowing the authorities to act earlier and decisively.
He added: ‘Anybody suffering s harassment like we did is basically screwed and nothing is going to get better with w their lives until they are assaulted and that incident is caught on camera.
‘We made so many calls to police p but it is not just their fault, fa it is the whole legal system. sy The police cannot really re do anything, often because be they know basically it won’t ever reach court.’
His H wife Sarah said problem council co tenants convicted of abusing ab a neighbour should be evicted or rehoused.