A woman has been jailed after putting a flaming piece of cardboard under her neighbour’s door and subjecting her to racial harassment.
Veronica Rouse, 51, was sentenced at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to racially aggravated intentional harassment.
The incident occurred at a building in Oldham where both Rouse and her neighbour lived in separate flats.
The victim’s uncle was in the flat while she was at work when Rouse pushed the lit cardboard under the front door.
Veronica Rouse, 51, was sentenced at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday
PA
He quickly discovered the burning item and managed to extinguish it before any serious damage was able to take hold.
When the victim returned home that day, Rouse began shouting and screaming at her, questioning whether she and her uncle had a right to be in the country.
The court heard that Rouse had been harassing the victim for several years, despite court orders prohibiting contact.
She had previously caused criminal damage to the victim’s property, including damaging the locks and doorbell of her flat.
MORE LIKE THIS:
The court heard that Rouse had been harassing her victim for several years in the face of strict court orders prohibiting contact
PA
The harassment had continued despite legal measures being in place to protect the victim.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, she said she did “not feel safe” and felt nothing had been done to protect her despite reporting Rouse’s harassment for years.
The court heard that Rouse had refused to cooperate with psychiatric services who were attempting to assess her.
Her defence lawyer, Harriet Lavin, acknowledged this lack of cooperation with mental health professionals – while Judge Neil Usher described Rouse’s refusal to cooperate with psychiatric services as a “sad state of affairs”.
The judge condemned her actions, warning that putting lit cardboard under the victim’s door was a “highly dangerous act which could have resulted in serious injuries or worse”.
She was subsequently handed a 10-month prison sentence.
