Lurgan woman jailed at Craigavon court for 'extremely distressing and bizarre' harassment of her neighbour
A 43-year-old woman, who told her neighbour she would see her deceased husband ‘sooner than she thinks’ has been jailed for harassment.
Claire Keenan, from Hill Street, Lurgan, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court charged with threats to kill, threats to damage property and harassment.
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The court heard that on December 6 last year, Keenan’s neighbour made a statement to police about the defendant who lived in a flat above.
A prosecutor revealed Keenan was in the adjoined back yard on November 12 last year shouting loudly ‘I’m going to fxxking kill you’ ‘I’ll put you in a fxxking ambulance’ and made a reference to her late husband saying she ‘would see him quicker than she would think’.
On November 16 at around 11am, the injured party was cleaning her house and had left the doors open to allow the floors to dry. The defendant came to the back door calling her names and said ‘I’m going to torture you’.
"The injured party perceived this to mean she would mentally torture her,” said the prosecutor.
On Sunday, November 17 at 2am the injured party was wakened by her dog who needed to go outside. She noticed a group of men in uniform coming from the defendant’s property.
"It was a fire crew who told the injured party that the defendant had reported a gas leak in the building but they didn’t find anything. The injured party perceived that she had done this deliberately to cause her and other occupants needless anxiety,” he said.
Though she finally got back to sleep, she was reawakened by noise from the defendant’s apartment where she seemed to be banging on the floor for a number of hours – this was also reported to police.
On Friday, November 29, the defendant was throwing items from her upstairs window including lip gloss, a metal pole, a lighter, bathroom scales and also a plant pot which narrowly missed a car belonging to the injured party’s daughter.
Later that day just after 10pm, the injured party was sitting in her living room watching TV when she heard two loud bangs on the door. She got up and noted the defendant walking away from the property. The next morning she saw footprints on the door which she believed were caused by the defendant.
On December 4 the injured party heard a loud crash outside her door and saw a smashed plant pot she believed had been thrown by the defendant. On December 5 at 7am the defendant began to make excessive noise, banging windows, screaming and shouting and throwing items about her apartment – this went on for most of the day.
On Friday, December 6 the injured party had just gone to bed and heard a massive bang on her front door. When she looked out she saw in the injured party in the middle of the street shouting incoherently and using foul language.
"The injured party said that this behaviour had been ongoing from June 2024 and she felt she could no longer go on,” said the prosecutor.
He added that on January 4 this year at 10am, the injured party looked out her window and saw the injured party sitting on the wall facing her home. The defendant started shouting at her saying things like she was going to ‘burn her out’, ‘put her door in’ and hurt her face. She told the injured party police wouldn’t do anything as police ‘couldn’t touch her’.
Keenan’s barrister Mr Conor Lunny said his client comes before the court with no record. He revealed there had been ‘no animus’ between the two individuals. He said this has not been triggered by alcohol but a ‘significant mental health issue’ adding that Keenan has been trying to deal with that since she went to prison two months ago.
He asked if District Judge Michael Ranaghan would deal with it without a pre-sentence report as she has already served the equivalent of a four months jail term.
Mr Lunny said his client wishes to apologise to the injured party. He said she has enjoyed the support of her ex-husband and adult son and upon her release plans to go back to live there which is in another part of town.
The barrister said Keenan had pleaded guilty immediately, adding: “All of the incidents happened without any context whatsoever. I am not asking for sympathy for Ms Keenan but there is clearly an issue with her mental health. It was a complete breakdown. She has had to deal with those issues for the last six or seven weeks whilst she was inside in Hydebank. She is a lady who had never come to police attention before June of last year.”
District Judge Michael Ranaghan told Keenan: “This is clearly a long period of harassment against your neighbour. No doubt that has been extremely distressing for her. It is also bizarre and unexplained behaviour. Problems with your neighbour is something that is very deeply felt by some people. This went significant stages further and has no doubt impacted significantly on the life of your victim."
The district judge said he was ‘pleased' to see Keenan ‘was visibly upset’, saying: “I think she should be upset given that awful string of behaviour towards her innocent neighbour. She simply did not deserve it.”
For the charge of threats to kill, Keenan was given seven months in jail. For the other two charges she was given four months on each all to run concurrently.
She is also subject to a restraining order banning her from contacting her neighbour for two-and-a-half years.