Eideard

Vampire has no opinion

A dog lover could face jail if deemed to be giving her pedigree pets their “walkies” too slowly following a judge’s verdict on a bitter neighbours dispute…Farmer Linda Jefferies, 61, rears rare breed sheep in Essex and is also the devoted owner of a Hungarian Komonder and a Bouvier de Flandres, called “Vampire”.

She has for years been embroiled in a “needle match” over a right of way running to one of her fields across the land of her neighbour, smallholder, Pauline Robb, 54.

That resulted in Mrs Jefferies being handed an injunction under the Protection from Harrassment Act after a judge found she had been using the path for “snooping” on Mrs Robb and her husband.

The order stipulates that Mrs Jefferies must “move along at a reasonable speed” when using the disputed path – or face a maximum penalty of a £5,000 fine or six months’ imprisonment

Mrs Jefferies fought that injunction in the Appeal Court, complaining that it effectively bans her from walking her beloved dogs for fear that they might feel the call of nature of otherwise “dawdle” on the path, landing her in jail…

At the Appeal Court, Kevin Leigh, for Mrs Jefferies, defended her right to walk her animals down the path at any speed she likes…

Lord Justice Sullivan, however, ruled that the injunction must remain in place unchanged…”If Mrs Jefferies uses the footpath genuinely to walk her dogs, and not as a disguised snooping exercise, she has nothing to fear from the judge’s order,” he concluded.

No word from the dogs. I presume that as long as they continue to poop and pee regularly that’s sufficient testimony.