A nightmare neighbour who was banned from a playground and school has breached a court order by punching her neighbour in the face after asking him: “Do you like perving on old women?”
Pensioner Janette Moffat was slapped with a criminal behaviour order in March after she made residents’ lives a misery during a campaign of terror in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
The 67-year-old, who lives with six cats, abused locals and made numerous false reports to the police.
She was also banned from entering a playground and local school and ordered to stop verbally abusing youngsters.
However, the indefinite criminal behaviour order (CBO) given by Nottingham Magistrates’ Court appeared to do little to temper Moffat’s behaviour even though it banned her from certain areas of her hometown.
The pensioner was hauled back before a court after she asked a man if he ‘like perving on old women’ when he saw her stood in her driveway in her dressing gown.
She also punched him after she accused him of stalking her and called him a ‘dirty man’ later on that day, on April 22, this year.
On Monday, December 19, she appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court where she was found guilty of assault and breaching her CBO.
She was handed a four month prison sentence but walked free from court after JPs agreed it had already been served in way of her eight month curfew.
Moffat was ordered to pay £620 in costs and £250 in compensation and warned she would be jailed for any further offences.
JPs were told she had breached the order by making contact with the man who had been walking along John Gold Avenue in Newark with his pet dog.
He said he heard Moffat banging on her fence, causing him to look around and see her stood outside in her dressing gown.
The victim said: “As I walked past her driveway she had clearly seen me come past and made one loud bang.
"I turned round and saw Miss Moffat at the fence in her dressing gown."
Moffat admitted she had muttered under her breath to herself "do you like looking at old women".
When she was overheard by the man and asked to repeat herself, she again said in a louder voice "do you like perving on old women" which was ruled breached her CBO.
When asked if she had shouted, Moffat told the court: “I’m a little deaf in one ear. Sometimes you have to shout when you’re deaf in one ear but I don’t admit I shouted.”
Moffat was also convicted of assaulting the same man in an incident later that evening.
He told the court he had overheard the end of an argument between Moffat and another neighbour over their garden fences at around midnight.
The victim added: “I heard my neighbour say ‘is that a threat’ and Miss Moffat replied ‘yes’. I wanted to assure him I would back him up.”
When he arrived at the neighbour’s house Moffat and her son Mark were on the doorstep, they turned their attention to him and he began filming the confrontation.
His video footage, shown in court, captured him backing away in the street as Moffat struck him and accused him of stalking her and calling him a "dirty" man.
The court heard Moffat had struck the man in the chest and punched his jaw, leaving him "uninjured but shocked".
Moffat claimed she acted in defence of her son, whose arm the man had pushed away from him.
Local police said they had previously been forced to take legal action to "ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents".
David Lloyd, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Ms Moffat repeatedly harassed those living in her local area, with neighbours left feeling unsettled in their own home.
"We will not tolerate this unacceptable behaviour and this Criminal Behaviour Order shows the courts also recognise the need for action in this case.
“I hope this order allows those affected to feel more settled in our community, without fear of constant harassment.
"I also hope Ms Moffat moves forward from this and accepts the support she has previously been offered."
Moffat has also contacted her local newspaper several times to make wild claims which included someone trying to kill her and her six rescue cats and people taking pot shots at her fences with firearms.
Inspector Matt Ward, of Nottinghamshire Police, said previously: “It is always disappointing when a person’s detrimental behaviour can’t be effectively changed for the better through the work of my officers and our partners at Newark and Sherwood District Council.
"But I am pleased that through that joint work we have been able to evidence the need for a CBO to be issued to Ms Moffat."
