A couple have spoken out after their neighbour subjected them to months of relentless harassment.
Drina Gray, 52, who made the couple's lives hell, received a prison sentence of three years and four months at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court last month.
Gray admitted to four charges including harassment, criminal damage and using threatening language intended to cause distress during a six-month period in 2024.
Judge Peter Lodder KC told the court that Gray had made her neighbours' lives "hell" through persistent harassment "morning, noon and night".
Gray's campaign against the young couple included damaging their doorbell camera multiple times and issuing violent threats such as "I can get you [expletive] killed".
The harassment included allowing her dog to defecate on the couple's doorstep and playing loud music throughout the day and night, with Adele's "Someone Like You" and Bruno Mars songs on repeat.
Gray would position herself on a shared staircase to verbally abuse Emma Williams, 31, preventing her from passing, while Ben Stanley, 32, received inappropriate text messages including comments about his appearance and requests to go on holiday.
The couple then installed cameras on their doorstep after Gray stole their parcels - which captured her making death threats.
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|Drina Gray admitted four charges including harassment, criminal damage and using threatening language intended to cause distress during a six-month period in 2024
"Watch your back and that's a warning," was among the threats recorded on camera, which later served as evidence in court.
The ordeal forced Stanley, a cybersecurity product manager, to seek medication for anxiety and depression after experiencing suicidal thoughts, whilst sleep deprivation from the constant disturbances cost him his position at a start-up company in July 2024.
Speaking out after the ordeal, Williams said: "I was afraid to be home alone if she was there."
She also explained how she kept a baseball bat beside the front door and would alter her plans to avoid encountering Gray.
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|The Wandsworth woman who made the couple's lives hell last month received a prison sentence of three years and four months at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court
Stanley, who purchased the one-bedroom leasehold property for £340,000 in August 2022, said he had lost his "peace of mind, health and job" during the two-year ordeal in a statement outside court.
Williams met Stanley in June 2023, and moved into the property the following February.
She said: "It was going to be our first home together and we want to have a family.
"I was aware that Drina caused trouble from when I'd stayed over, but figured we could get through it together.
"But Drina took a dislike to me right away, as Ben was the only one in the street who had given her the time of day.
"I think she thought I was a threat."
She continued: "I use the word obsession, because it was that level."
The couple recorded 220 separate incidents throughout Gray's harassment campaign.
The court heard Gray had 18 previous convictions spanning 40 offences, with defence lawyer Tammy Sher citing her client's long-standing alcohol problems and two road accidents in 2023 that had worsened her drinking.
Wandsworth Council, which owns Gray's flat, has kicked off proceedings to evict her - though the 52-year-old has vowed she has no intention of returning to the property.
A 10-year restraining order now prohibits Gray from coming within a mile of the victims' address or contacting them directly or indirectly.