A nightmare neighbour who subjected her new neighbours to a campaign of unprovoked ‘sustained harassment’ has been convicted.
Wendy Lau, 54, pointed a CCTV camera at Abigail Beckett’s new house in Portchester, Hampshire, played loud music and banged on the wall in the early hours of the morning.
Lau had moved into a bungalow next door to Abigail and her then-fiancé, Stuart Turner, two weeks after they arrived in August 2022.
Neighbours heard her making ‘very loud banging and noise’ at various hours soon after moving in.
The couple repeatedly noticed her staring at them and heard her ‘persistently’ using power tools ‘outside of acceptable hours and not consistent with home DIY’.
The court also heard Lau, a sign language interpreter, would throw stones at their house.
Mr Turner said he tried to speak with Lau but she ‘stuck her middle finger up’ at him.
The couple sought help from police and the Environment Agency, after which Lau was served a cease-and-desist order, but the noise didn’t stop.
Still suffering 14 months later, they decided to move in with Ms Beckett’s parents.
‘Eventually, they felt they had no choice but to take the step of selling their home,’ Edward Fenner, prosecuting, told the court.
Lau pleaded guilty to one charge of stalking involving serious alarm and distress, and was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence.
Ms Beckett said she could not understand why she was targeted, telling the court: ‘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 admitted making the noise because she was an ‘inconsiderate neighbour’ but denied any ‘malice’ behind it.
Casey Chard, mitigating for the defence, said Lau ‘accepts making the noise’ but claimed it was because she was making her ‘ginger drink’.
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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