A sign language interpreter has admitted to harassing her new neighbours so much that they moved out.
Wendy Lau, 54, carried out a campaign against Abigail Beckett and Stuart Turner’s house just two weeks after she moved in next door in August 2022.
Among the catalogue of things she did to intimidate the couple at their home in Portchester, Hampshire, she:
- Pointed a CCTV camera at their house
- Played loud music in the early hours
- Threw stones
- Used power tools at all hours of the day
When Stuart tried to speak to Lau, she stuck her middle finger up at him and claimed the banging noises were from making a ginger drink.
Things got so bad that the couple contacted police and the Environment Agency and she was served with a cease-and-desist order.
However, that failed and after suffering for 14 months, the couple moved in with Abigail’s parents.
She said: ‘We bought [the house] with such excitement – it was our first family home together. We have effectively been evicted by proxy from our own home.
‘I really would like to know what I have done to deserve the fear she has caused us all.’
Lau has now been handed a four-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to stalking involving serious alarm and distress.
Judge James Newton-Price KC told her: ‘This case concerned, in my view, a wholly unjustified and sustained harassment of your neighbour.
‘Your behaviour had a profound impact on your neighbour and her family which damaged her mental health.
‘She felt intimidated and targeted by you for no good reason at all.
‘You expressed regret although I do agree with the probation officer that you appear to minimise your actions.’
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