A mother of three who mimicked her Sri Lankan neighbour’s accent and threw eggs at her van during a parking space feud is facing jail for race hate crimes.
Victoria Dillon, 52, of Huyton, waged a five-month hate campaign when next-door neighbour Kalaithevy Mauourathan’s family began parking their van in a communal space the Dillon family wrongfully believed was theirs.
To keep Miss Mauourathan from parking in the spot, Dillon put notes through her door demanding she parked elsewhere and even blocked the spaces with cones and wheelie bins.
Miss Mauourathan contacted police who told Dillon that the land did not actually belong to her.
Dillon was later quizzed and charged with racially aggravated harassment.
In court, Dillon denied the charges but pleaded guilty to an ‘amended version’ on the day of her trial.
She has been bailed but still faces up to two years in jail if the case is sent to crown court for sentencing.
Prosecutor Paula Grogan said: ‘This is a harassment matter that has continued over an approximately five-month period.
‘The victim in this matter is a lady who lives directly next door to the defendant. It is a semi-detached house and they are in the two halves of the semi.
‘It would seem that a dispute arose because this lady believed that a parking space directly outside of her property was in fact her land.
‘She put notes through the door to stop them doing it. She puts out cones. She moved her bins. It escalated on one occasion, which was videoed, when she threw eggs at the van, and so on and so forth.’
Miss Grogan said Dillon’s neighbours were ‘entitled’ to put their vehicle in the space, and added: ‘Towards the end of this course of conduct the lady was involved in some verbal altercation with her neighbour and during that time she mimicked their accent.
‘That is the racially aggravated element of the offence and the basis on which this lady has pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated offence and that is accepted by the Crown.’
Miss Grogan will also push for compensation and a restraining order to keep Dillon away from Miss Mauourathan.
During the hearing, Dillon was told to stop speaking to her friend in the public gallery while the case was being heard.
Miss Dillon said: ‘That won’t happen. I am a respectable person.’
The judge replied: ‘It is in your interests to cooperate with the probation service and get this matter closed. It is not acceptable to be leaning over and trying to have a conversation with your friend.’
Dillon will be sentenced on January 9 at Wirral Magistrates Court.
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