A retiree attacked her neighbor in a petty dispute for parking on a communal grass edge on her wealthy cul-de-sac, a court heard.
Eunice Day was caught on video breaking into neighbor Suzanne Webb’s home in Ferndown, Dorset, before reaching for her potted geranium plant to assault her.
A court heard that Day, 81, had disturbed his new neighbors shortly after moving into his rented bungalow by leaving his Audi on a patch of grass next to it.
He kept it there for several weeks, keeping a small group of community-minded homeowners from mowing the lawn.
Ms Webb asked Day to move her car, but she replied that she could ‘park where she wanted’.
Eunice Day leaving Poole Magistrates Court last week where she was found guilty of assault.
Day was said to have escalated the dispute by deliberately blocking a private driveway leading to the five single-family homes at the end of the cul-de-sac with his dumpster.
It was also claimed that he sat outside on his mobility scooter in an attempt to intimidate his neighbours.
Things came to a head after the five residents complained to Day’s leasing agent about his behavior.
That led to Day “aggressively” knocking on Ms Webb’s front door to argue with her.
The victim filmed Day through her open kitchen window. The footage shows Day approaching Ms Webb’s window box and slapping the phone out of her hand.
Ms. Webb had her six-year-old granddaughter with her and was shocked by the incident on June 20, 2022.
The victim filmed Day through her open kitchen window in Ferndown, Dorset, in June 2022.
The clip shows Day reaching for the victim’s window box and knocking the phone out of her hand.
The police were called and Day was charged with assaulting Ms Webb, who is 60 years old.
The defendant argued that she had been acting in self-defense and thought her neighbor was holding a knife instead of a phone.
Ms Webb, who has lived on the road for 25 years, told magistrates in Poole that the problems arose shortly after Day moved in on April 1, 2022.
She said: ‘He had parked his Audi on the strip of private land we share between our five houses.
“I asked him who it belonged to when I was out for a walk and he said something like ‘I can park wherever I want.’ She sat there for weeks. We find the situation awkward.
Day said she thought she owned the parcel of land. She said: ‘They kept saying my car was on her property. She had already told Mrs. Webb that she would look at the Land Registry and if my car was parked illegally she would move it.
‘Then I got an email from them asking me to move my car so they could mow the community lawn. I pay someone to mow the lawn and I mow that part. At that time it was so hot that there was hardly any grass left.’
Eunice Day leaves Poole Magistrates Court in Dorset last week where she was convicted
Day, pictured outside Poole Magistrates Court, has been conditionally discharged
Jason Spelman, the prosecutor, said mobile footage of Ms Webb showed the way Day approached her home that was “never going to be a friendly visit.”
He said: ‘The defendant has gone there in a bad mood to talk about what has been happening, blocking the road and leaving bins on the pavements.
This was never going to be a friendly visit with his neighbor. It wasn’t a good idea and she flies down the road and you can clearly see what happened.
‘The complainant has opened the window with one hand and is filming well inside the house with the other.
“She physically could not have gotten out of the window to threaten the defendant because of her height.
“If I had put my hand out the window with my phone in it, I would have been very vulnerable.” You can’t hear Mrs. Webb say anything aggressively.
The home of Eunice Day, 81, in Ferndown, Dorset, is circled in the photograph above.
“I would suggest that the defendant did what she did because she was angry that she was being filmed. The suggestion that the complainant had a knife is ridiculous.
“There is nothing to suggest that the claimant had one, if there were any concerns she could have walked away. There was no reason to pass.
Michael McGhie, defending himself, said that his client had been acting in self-defense. He said: ‘The defendant is a perfectly respectable woman who worked in business all her life.
He came to live in Ferndown and has had an unhappy relationship with his neighbours.
“This has been going on for a few months and my client wanted to turn around and clear the air with the woman who she thought was making all the complaints. It’s not an unreasonable thing to do.
Other roadside properties in Ferndown, Dorset, next to Eunice Day’s house
‘My client has had several recent eye operations and she had the impression that a knife was coming at her.
“It was actually a phone, but he made a split-second decision to defend himself.”
He made a preemptive strike, and in circumstances where you feel in danger, you can take the first action.
However, the magistrates found Day guilty of assault.
Paul Kemp, presiding magistrate, made it clear that the video evidence was damning. He said: ‘The mobile phone and video images were quite clear.
The complainant’s hand did not leave the window frame and the defendant reached in and took the phone from her hand.
“We do not accept that this was in self-defense. We find the case proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Day received a conditional discharge because there was no evidence that Ms Webb sustained injuries in the skirmish.
He was also ordered to pay £646 in costs.
