AN elderly couple say they will not be driven out of their home by a ‘neighbour from hell’ who has been sentenced for threatening violence towards 72-year-old retired nurse Carole Bowles.

Janine Hawkins, of Seend Cleeve, near Devizes, pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with the intent to cause a person to believe that immediate unlawful violence would be used against them when she appeared before Chippenham magistrates on February 7. She had previously pleaded not guilty at Salisbury magistrates court to assault and criminal damage.

She was given a conditional discharge for 12 months, and ordered to pay £346 compensation and other costs of £105.

This week Mrs Bowles’ husband Edwin, 69, said his wife was now nervous about going outside the house where they have lived since 1978 and always wore a body camera if she went into the garden.

He said: “We will not move from our home but it feels very uncomfortable now. But we have been supported by a lot of people in the village. People who we had never spoken to before have come up to us and been very kind.”

The court case followed an incident last June when Mrs Bowles went to water another neighbour’s flowers in a garden bordering the Hawkins’ home and was then approached by Hawkins, who was shouting and swearing. Hawkins was eventually pulled away by her husband and by the time police were called had gone back inside her house.

Hawkins moved to Seend Cleeve shortly after Mr and Mrs Bowles and they say that for many years there was no trouble between the families. Mr Bowles said relationships started to break down when a car was parked across their driveway by a relative of Mrs Hawkins who refused to move. Retired toolmaker Mr Bowles said: “At the time I was recovering from prostate cancer but the day after the parking problem Janine Hawkins started swearing at me.”

Mr Bowles said he has now put up CCTV cameras outside his home to record any threats or unsocial behaviour.

Mr and Mrs Bowles were at Chippenham Magistrates Court for the hearing last Wednesday, but waited in an adjoining room during the hearing. They thought Hawkins was going ahead with her not guilty plea to the more serious charges and they might have to give evidence.

Wiltshire Police have now written to Mrs Bowles, as the victim in the case, giving her details of the outcome. Their letter says: “The defendant has been given a conditional discharge for 12 months. This is a criminal record and it is designed to serve as an incentive to prevent re-offending.”