A Perthshire ASBO pensioner accused of screaming abuse at her neighbour was let off after he admitted it had happened so often he’d ceased to care.
Joan Courtney, 73, recently became the UK’s oldest female recipient of an antisocial behaviour order.
She has appeared in court on a number of occasions in connection with verbal and physical assaults upon Derek Scotland and his family, and she was banned from harassing neighbours in Stanley as part of the ASBO imposed at the request of Perth and Kinross Council.
The latest allegation saw her accused of breaching that order by shouting abuse at Mr Scotland, 42, on August 21 this year outside the block of flats they share in the village.
Mr Scotland explained that he’d been approached by Courtney and her daughter while gardening.
He said: “They were talking about me, but not to me, and she quickly became irate and aggressive. She started mouthing obscenities about my granddaughter, who at the time was just seven. She said stupid things about her.”
The case began to unravel, however, when Mr Scotland said: “I’m not bothered about the way she speaks to me I don’t even think about her language towards me any more.”
He said Courtney’s daughter had “rattled” gardening tools down his car and: “I thought I was here to speak about that.”
After hearing Mr Scotland’s evidence, the Crown decided not to seek a conviction.