Plains Farm nightmare neighbour threatened to burn down rival’s house – and pelted them with eggs

A “nightmare neighbour” who threatened to burn down a rival’s house following a bitter fall-out has been spared jail.

Kelly Spalding, aka Loughlin, made the threats to her neighbour and went on to throw eggs at her house and partner.,

Newcastle Crown Court heard that the trouble happened on April, 13 after a long-running dispute between the neighbours, who lived in Plains Farm.

At a hearing on October 24, Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw told the court how events unfolded.

He said: “At the time the defendant was a neighbour of hers.

“There had been issues between the witnesses and the defendant for some time prior to the commission of these offences.

“The Crown will not say any more than that. Each will have their own version of what went on.

“At around about 5pm that evening, words were spoken by the pair.”Mr Wardlaw said that the 36-year-old defendant then told the complainant that her house would be “getting burned down”.

He added: “The witness believed it was an idle threat.

“The assault occurred when the complainant’s partner came out of the address.

“The defendant threw an egg towards him which hit him on the chest.”

Spalding, of Primate Road, Sunderland, was arrested and admitted her offending in interview, before pleading guilty to threats to commit criminal damage and common assault.

Paul Rooney, defending, asked the court to acknowledge his client’s guilty pleas and recommended that supervision work could be carried out.

Judge Sarah Mallet told the defendant on the seriousness of her crimes.

She said: “There had been an ill-feeling and you had not been speaking to each other, but matters came to a head on this date.

“You made threats to burn the house down. You went outside and threw eggs at the address before throwing one of the eggs at the man’s chest.”

However, Judge Mallet suspended the five-month term of imprisonment for two years.

Spalding, who was of previous good character, was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity days and a 90-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement.

A two-year restraining order was also imposed to protect the complainants.