Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
07
Sept 2022
Suspended sentence for Masham woman who harassed neighbours
A 50-year-old woman has been given a suspended sentence for harassing her neighbours in Masham over a period of almost a year.
Summer Sugar was sentenced at York Magistrates' Court yesterday after being found guilty in July of harassment by anti-social behaviour between September 15, 2019, and August 25, 2020.
Magistrates heard her neighbours were left unable to go about their lives because of the constant fear of what she would do.
She was found to have caused consistent noise nuisance, with intense loud banging on walls for prolonged periods and playing loud music. She had taken photographs of her neighbours in their garden, including their young children, and had made a malicious complaint to Yorkshire Water about them blocking her drain, which turned out to be false.
Read more:
- Harrogate district woman found guilty of harassing neighbours
- Review into stalking and harassment response in North Yorkshire
Asking magistrates not to impose a custodial sentence, defence solicitor Callum Terry said Sugar had three children, one of whom had "significant learning and behavioural difficulties" and another who was only 11 and was home schooled.
He said her anti-social behaviour towards her neighbours had stopped two years previously and asked magistrates to take this into account when sentencing.
Sugar was currently facing her own health problems, he said, with investigations ongoing into pain and discomfort she was experiencing. He added:
However, the prosecution said the impact of Sugar's actions should not be underestimated. A victim impact statement written by the mother was read to the court.
In it, she said:
Magistrates imposed a 12-week custodial sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered Sugar to pay a £128 surcharge and £300 costs.
They also imposed a two-year restraining order preventing Sugar from contacting the victims directly or indirectly.
0