A PENSIONER hit her neighbour during a campaign of abuse.

Jean Clough used a half-clenched fist to assault her neighbour after becoming upset about a television aerial.

The 75-year-old of Heys Road, Thongsbridge, was found guilty of common assault and criminal damage in her absence by Huddersfield magistrates yesterday.

The court heard evidence from Clough’s neighbours who said the assault came after they put a television aerial on a shared chimney in November last year. A week later, on November 26 2007, Clough cut the aerial wires and then hit neighbour Fiona Riordan.

Ms Riordan said: “I used to do bits of shopping for her and if I cooked something I’d take some round to her. But when we put the aerial up it all went wrong.

“She’d be screaming and shouting at me at all hours of the day and night. She was telling me ‘You can get that aerial off of my roof’ and she said that I should be ashamed of myself. She came across as being very aggressive.”

A short while later, Ms Riordan heard a noise outside her home and looked out of the window and saw Clough pulling two wheelie bins into the middle of the road.

She ran out to see what was happening and it was then Clough hit her.

Mrs Riordan added: “I tried to pull the wheelie bins back in from the road because it was dangerous for the motorists.

“She just moved forward and hit me, her fist was partially clenched. I felt like it was deliberate.”

The attack left Ms Riordan with a painful red cheek.

At an earlier court hearing, Clough pleaded not guilty to attacking her neighbour and damaging the television aerial by cutting the wires, causing £30 to £40 damage.

Huddersfield magistrates’ found Clough guilty of common assault and causing criminal damage. She will be ordered to appear before magistrates’ at a later date for sentencing.