A woman who made life hell for a neighbour before setting off fires on their property has been given a prison term. Mum Ann Campbell, 54, from Hamilton in Lanarkshire was found guilty of “wilful fire-raising” after targeting the home of neighbour Michelle McDade as part of a bitter campaign of harassment.
From her upstairs window, Ms Campbell would throw flaming objects at Ms McDade’s outside furniture and into trash cans.
Ms McDade, who lived on the lower floor and was asleep throughout the second fire, didn’t wake up until her dog started barking. Even though she was able to leave her house, she passed out on the pavement outside.
The first fire was first thought to have been an accident, but three months later, when a second fire significantly damaged a gas main, a police inquiry was started.
In May and August 2021, a jury at Hamilton Sheriff Court found Ms Campbell guilty of two counts of intentionally causing fires notwithstanding her plea of not guilty.
Glasgow Live reports that Ms Campbell was also found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards Ms McDade between September 2020 and September 2021.
Sheriff Colin Dunipace said there was no alternative to a prison sentence.
Giving evidence, Ms McDade told jurors how she had been petrified when a blaze broke out.
She said: “My dog Tilly was barking and I was asleep so thought the dog wanted out.
“I’ve looked up and thought I’d left the kitchen light on but as I walked closer I noticed it wasn’t a light and as I pulled open the blind I then saw the fire and the window exploded.
“I got Tilly’s lead straight away, it was just scary and then I heard a loud chapping on my front door and it was Ann’s son and I phoned my other neighbour to tell them to get out because there was another fire.
“I got myself out and started walking away and I remember my neighbour coming running out the house as I collapsed and I remember Ann was shouting out from her living room window.
“The fire brigade came and said it was deliberate, I was just scared and in shock.”
Ms McDade added: “She would shout things over the fence towards me, that I was a f*****g idiot and would throw her rubbish over the fence, just anything really.
“I felt scared and intimidated because there were four adults upstairs and I was on my own downstairs.”
Sheriff Dunipace said: “Had it not been for the fact you are a first offender then the sentence would have been more.
“This was clearly carried out as part of an ongoing dispute with your neighbour.”
