'Hate campaign' woman gets Asbo

Jeanne Wilding said she had "gone grey" as a result of the case

A retired businesswoman accused of turning an idyllic rural community into a "hamlet of horrors" has been given an anti-social behaviour order.

Jeanne Wilding, 57, was described as "running a campaign of hatred and pure evil" in Bottomley, West Yorkshire.

A judge at Calderdale Magistrates' Court granted Calderdale Council the Asbo against the ex-financial manager.

Her acts of "mental torture" included damaging vehicles, setting booby traps and placing dead animals in the road.

The case involved more than 250 incidents in under 16 months.

Walked out

Miss Wilding has behaved in a manner which means an order will be necessary to protect people from further anti-social acts from her Deputy District Judge Sandra Keen

Deputy District Judge Sandra Keen said Miss Wilding, who walked out part way through Thursday's hearing, had "little or no appreciation" of the effect her behaviour had on other people.

She said: "If her views are challenged she responds in a wholly inappropriate manner.

"She takes a confrontational stance, causing others harassment or distress. Her view is there's nothing anti-social in how she behaves.

"Miss Wilding has behaved in a manner that means an order will be necessary to protect people from further anti-social acts from her."

The judge went on to praise Miss Wilding's neighbours who were involved in the case.

'Mental torture'

During the eight-day hearing, Miss Wilding was accused of being "at war" with at least 15 individuals or organisations and described as "an expert in the art of mental torture".

Her behaviour included loudly playing a choral work "about rape, pillage and the trashing of villages", damaging neighbours' vehicles, booby-trapping pot plants and tipping oil over her neighbour's drive at night.

Can you really apply an anti-social behaviour order in order to change someone's personality? Danielle Graham, representing Jeanne Wilding

She also put dead animals, dog faeces and glass and nails on the road.

The court heard the long-running dispute between residents had led to families involved watching each other with banks of surveillance cameras.

Miss Wilding had been arrested more than 30 times in the past two years.

Danielle Graham, representing Miss Wilding, said her client had spent more time with security guards and court officials than her family, and added much of what had been said in court was opinion.

She said: "Can you really apply an anti-social behaviour order in order to change someone's personality?"