Jealous mum's sickening campaign of harassment against neighbour as she called her a 'tramp' and told her 'I'm going to do something to your face'

A jealous mum waged a ‘deeply unpleasant and distressing’ campaign of harassment against her neighbour, falsely believing she was having an affair with her boyfriend.

Ashleigh Jackson, 37, initially banged on the woman’s front door calling her a ‘tramp’ and later messaged her on Facebook accusing her of being with her then-partner, Nathan Lee.

“She told her she was mistaken and started to ignore her,” prosecutor Emma Clarke told Manchester Crown Court. “The following day the defendant shouted at the victim calling her a ‘s**g’ in front of her child.”

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The abuse escalated, with Jackson sending the woman multiple messages on Instagram calling her a ‘tramp’ and a ‘dark b***h’. That same night, she heard Jackson banging on her door and shouting.

“The next day the defendant knocked on her door and she chose to open it to try and diffuse the situation," Ms Clarke added. "She asked to see the woman' s emails, she said her partner was in prison and believed he had been communicating with her."

That same night three men were spotted outside the woman’s home before the kitchen window was broken. Jackson was not charged in relation to that incident.

The woman continued receiving abusive messages before a rock was thrown into a bedroom. The woman said she felt unsafe in her home and left for a few days.

Jackson was arrested for harassment and told officers: “You can’t arrest me, it was Nathan, he’s doing this. Ring forest Bank, Nathan’s doing it from the inside."

The court heard Nathan Lee was jailed earlier this year for attacking a man inside Jackson’s home. She was released under investigation and told not to contact the woman.

But a few days later the woman began receiving calls from an unknown number. On one occasion she answered and heard Jackson ask: “Who is this?”

Jackson continued to message her, accusing her of hacking into her iCloud account. She went to her home and called her offensive names including ‘little b***h’, ‘cheeky c***t’ and referred to her as ‘Ursula’.

“She was left feeling petrified and constantly on edge,” Ms Clarke said. On February 13, she asked her child’s father to go to her home as she heard the defendant arguing outside. That evening she received a message from the account of Nathan Lee - Jackson’s partner - and later heard a thud outside her house.

Checking her Ring doorbell she saw Jackson, who shouted: “[Name] you’re a f*****g s**g." On February 27 Jackson messaged the woman using her mum’s phone and sent her a number of voice messages which accused her of coming into her house.

“She later heard bangs on her front door and called the police as the defendant was outside screaming 'you have been in my house again'. This left her feeling terrified,” the prosecutor said.

"Events escalated on March 3 when the woman was walking back from the shop with her young daughter. She saw a black Mercedes reverse onto a road before driving towards her at speed. She retreated onto a driveway to avoid getting hit, and recognised it was the defendant who was driving.

“The defendant shouted at her and accused her of being in her house. The complainant ran home, as she did the defendant reversed the vehicle and shouted ‘I’m going to do something to your face'."

Days later, the woman was at home watching TV when she heard banging on the kitchen window while accusing her of going into her house. She later noticed the window frame had been dislodged.

Jackson was further arrested and interviewed, and claimed that the woman had been into her home. On another occasion, a black Mercedes beeped its horn outside the house, and the following day, Jackson went to the woman’s house and claimed she had stolen £100 from her.

Judge Alan Conrad KC said: “This was misplaced jealousy on the defendant’s part.” In a statement, the woman said she ‘genuinely feared her life was at risk’. She said it had impacted her mental health.

Mitigating, Rachel Cooper said her client, who has no previous convictions, was suffering from psychosis at the time due to trauma from previous relationships; witnessing the assault committed by Lee; and the death of her grandmother.

“It took time for her family and friends to realise this person is unwell,” she said. "She was putting holes in the wall of her own home and believed people were covering themselves in gel to make themselves invisible. She was not capable of understanding her behaviour or appreciating what she was doing.”

Ms Cooper said Jackson was hospitalised in April where she remained for a month and is now on medication and supported by a community mental health team. Sentencing her, Judge Alan Conrad KC described the campaign of harassment as ‘deeply unpleasant and distressing’.

He said he understood she was suffering from psychosis at the time which rendered her ‘seriously mentally unwell’. “I am satisfied these offences came about due to mental illness and irrational beliefs as the conduct of your behaviour was fuelled by your toxic relationship,” Judge Conrad said.

Jackson, of Sandbach Road, was sentenced to an 18-month community order; 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirements; and 18-month mental health treatment requirements. She previously admitted harassment; dangerous driving; and criminal damage. She was banned from driving for a year and made the subject of a restraining order.