A Perthshire pensioner launched a tirade of abuse against her neighbour, claiming that he was about to kill her daughter with a can of insect repellent, Perth Sheriff Court was told.
The court heard that Joan Courtney shouted and screamed at neighbours when she spotted them using wasp killer in their garden.
The 73-year-old, of County Place, Stanley, said that the spray could trigger her 50-year-old daughter’s severe allergies.
Courtney was served an Asbo in December by Perth and Kinross Council after abusing a neighbour over a disputed parking space.
She stood trial accused of breaching the peace on August 19 last year by shouting, screaming, acting in an aggressive manner and brandishing a walking stick, to the fear and alarm of witnesses.
Derek Scotland (41), a workshop manager, said he was in his County Place garden with his wife, Gillian, father-in-law, James Younger, and two young children.
He said Mr Younger had just sprayed wasp killer on his bins and was preparing to use a weed killer.
He said: “I could hear Joan shouting, coming down the street with her daughter.
“She was shouting, ‘You’re going to kill my daughter’. Unfortunately, that’s the normal thing with her. She was brandishing her walking stick towards my father-in-law.
“She was shouting and frothing at the mouth and babbling, as she normally does.”
Mr Younger told the court: “I apologised and said I didn’t see her, but she said I did.
“She was very loud. Her voice was very strong and aggressive. She was very close, in my face. She didn’t accept my apology.”
Hotel worker Gillian Scotland (37) was with the children, aged six and eight.
She said: “I was nervous and shaking.”
Mrs Courtney maintained she had been polite throughout the exchange, admitting she had raised her voice, but claiming that if she had shouted she would have been heard at the other side of the village.
She said her daughter has been allergic to “nearly everything” all her life and all the witnesses agreed that ambulances are a regular sight at her home.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher found her not guilty, as the Crown had failed to establish that there had been a breach of the peace.