A COUPLE banned from walking past their neighbour’s home are back in court again charged with chanting, staring and swearing at the pair.
Nigel and Sheila Jacklin, both 61, have allegedly been involved in a long-running dispute with Dr Stephane Duckett and her partner Norinne Betjemann.
Sheila and Nigel Jacklin appeared in court today accused of harassing their neighbours
They were previously warned they face prosecution if they even looked at their neighbour’s home in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.
The Jacklins, who were also banned from walking past the property, appeared at Hasting Magistrates Court today.
Councillor Nigel Jacklin, who hopes to become an MP at the next general election, is accused of harassment after allegedly staring into the couple’s home.
He is also charged with assaulting a local shopkeeper who is on friendly terms with his neighbours by “deliberately and forcefully pushing her into a fence”.
His wife is accused of staring, loitering, sticking her fingers up and chanting between July 1 and September 11, 2023.
Prosecutor Charlotte Frost said: “This is a long running neighbour dispute.
“They have a dispute with a couple said to have taken place over a long period of time.
“It is said Mrs Jacklin would go to the garden fence, bringing a chair facing their home and would be sitting or standing, loudly chanting while making finger gestures.
“Mrs Jacklin says they are religious gestures. Her neighbours say they say rude.”
The Jacklins, who deny the alleged offences, were charged after being interviewed by police for several hours in October last year.
A provisional trial date has been set for September this year where they face a maximum six months in prison if convicted.
They have lived in their £600,000 five-bedroom home, which is just yards from the beach, for 30 years.
A dispute erupted after clinical psychologist Dr Duckett and Norinne bought the 120-year-old, disused glass glazing workshop opposite around ten years ago.
The couple, from London, then set about converting it into a £400,000 weekend holiday home.
The Jacklins were previously warned they face prosecution if they are “perceived by any person to be looking into any neighbour’s property”.
They were also banned from walking directly to the beach past their neighbour’s home because it now forms part of an “exclusion zone” imposed on them.
Ms Frost told the court: “It is not in dispute there is animosity between these couples.”
SWNSThey were previously banned from looking at their neighbour’s home[/caption]
Dr Stephane Duckett bought the workshop opposite their home
Partner Norinne Betjemann was allegedly harassed by her neighbours
The Jacklins have lived in their home (right) for 30 years Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
