Mary Scott, 45, of Queen Alexandra Road, North Shields, told Newcastle Crown Court: "Our van has been fire-bombed and our daughter bullied at school."

Mrs Scott and her husband David, 60, deny four joint charges of theft. A fifth charge of stealing flowers from a tree in Preston Cemetery, North Shields, has been dropped.

They are alleged to have taken floral tributes from the cemetery between February and April this year.

Mary Scott told the jury: "We have received abusive phone calls and poison pen letters.

"The business just disappeared. We tried until 21 May but couldn't do it any more. It was awful."

She said there would be no point in stealing the flowers because they would not last long enough to be re-used.

Caretaker 'saw defendants'

The prosecution said that the cemetery's caretaker saw the defendants on 6 April in the Garden of Remembrance.

She said Mary Scott was carrying floral tributes towards their car and David Scott was "keeping watch".

But Mrs Scott told the court: "I picked one floral tribute up. I wanted to have a better look at it. I wanted to know who made it. It was too dark so I walked towards a lighter place."

Police searched the their house and car and found two memorial cards from wreaths.

Scott said her daughter collected these cards. "She was going to make a book of different cards for people who were stuck for words."

Brian Forster, prosecuting, put it to her: "You were stealing that night and you were caught red-handed."

Mrs Scott replied: "No I was not."