Wealthy neighbour from hell gets her comeuppance

A wealthy Sutton Coldfield woman who threatened her neighbour with an axe has been jailed for 22 weeks.

Julie Rankine, 54, hit 50-year-old neighbour Caroline Moore with a metal walking stick during a row about the boundary between their £1 million properties.

On another occasion she shoved a spiked fence panel in the face of Moore's husband Brendan, and threatened him with a three-foot axe.

And the court heard that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

"There are numerous statements from her neighbours, not just to do with the assaults, but quite frankly to do with Ms Rankine's behaviour as a neighbour going back nine years. She has tormented them," prosecutor Simon Cleary said.

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"There have been pool parties at Ms Rankine's house, running late into the night and keeping these families awake."

Earlier this month, Rankine was found guilty of assault, and she has now been given 22 weeks in jail.

"I am entirely satisfied that the offences taken together warrant a custodial sentence," commented district judge Ian Strongman. "You have caused your neighbours great distress, and this is your comeuppance."

Most disputes between neighbours get no further than a few cross words over the fence. However, sometimes - as in this case - tempers really explode.

'My nightmare neighbour threatened to kill me'

Earlier this month, we covered the case of Saif Altai, whose neighbour from hell threatened to kill him in a racist attack. Despite being jailed, James Turfrey continued his harassment after coming out of prison.

Just days ago, Nathan Brunton was jailed for 14 months at Newcastle Crown Court for throwing 'bone-crushing' punches at neighbour Jennifer Gill after months of bad feeling between the two.

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A week earlier, Leicester Crown Court heard how a butcher attacked his florist neighbour with a rake after a dispute about the parking area behind their shops. After hitting the man in the face, he was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

And worst of all, in the same week, Lee Francis was given a five-year sentence for knifing a neighbour during a row about parking in their southwest London street. The neighbour was in a coma for weeks.