ASBO OAP To Appeal Sentence

A pensioner once dubbed the “original neighbour from hell” by a judge, plans to appeal against her prison sentence, her daughter said yesterday. Dorothy Evans, 81, was jailed for six months at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday for one count of harassment and six breaches of her anti-social behaviour order.

The complainants in the case were neighbours Angela and Roberto Casa, who fell out with Evans after she blamed them for flooding at her home. Evans, of Park Crescent, Abergavenny, was back in court yesterday for the second time this week to answer charges of driving without due care and attention and failing to stop after an incident in October 2005. She denies both offences.

Stephen Cox, chairman at Caerphilly magistrates’ court, had to adjourn the trial because Evans was unable to hear the proceedings. Barbara Thomas, the only child of Evans, was present during the hearing to see her mother for the first time since she was sent to Eastwood Park Prison near Bristol.

Fighting back the tears, Mrs Thomas said: ” I want to get her out of prison – she is 81 not 41. I’m going to go to the solicitors to try and sort it out. I hope my mother will be able to live through this and give her side of the story. The other side of the story hasn’t been told yet.”

Mrs Thomas, who lives with Evans, said she had been inundated with messages of support from people in her home town in the past few days. She said, “I’ve learned a lot about Abergavenny and that it is not just made up of two sets of neighbours. It’s made up of lovely people.”