A disabled author and his wife convicted of stalking their neighbours at a plush estate have been warned they may have to sell their £500,000 home as part of their sentencing.
David Aston, 55, and his 58-year-old wife Jacqueline were found guilty last week of causing neighbours fear and alarm by recording their movements and making false reports about them to the police and local council.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard Mrs Aston also tried to wreck the career of one neighbour by making a malicious complaint to the General Teaching Council for Scotland claiming she was neglecting her children and using drugs.
In a scathing speech lasting about an hour, Sheriff John Cook described the couple’s behaviour towards their neighbours over three years as ‘utterly appalling’.
After the guilty verdicts, prosecutor Clare Green said the Crown was moving for non-harassment orders that would ban the Astons from having any contact with their neighbours at the estate in North Berwick, East Lothian.
She added: ‘Consideration is also being given to the Crown seeking a non-harassment order not to enter the street given the extent of the stalking.’
Solicitor Mark Harrower, representing Mr Aston, said imposing such an order would mean ‘they [the Astons] would have to move’.
Sheriff Cook said: ‘I have to give very careful consideration if that is proportionate. It is an extensive course of conduct and it may well be entirely proportionate so maybe your clients should consider their future there.’
He said he would decide on the conditions of any non-harassment order to be imposed at the sentencing hearing next month.
The sheriff told the Astons: ‘You have both been convicted of very serious offences and I require to decide whether custodial sentences are appropriate.
‘Mrs Aston, the number of complaints against you mean that there is a potential for five years’ imprisonment but that may not be proportionate.
‘But you require to really understand I have convicted you of serious offences and I have to seriously consider whether you will be sentenced to a period of imprisonment.
‘Mr Aston, your participation was less but I also have to consider whether any sentence other than a custodial sentence is appropriate.’
Sheriff Cook also said he would be considering imposing financial orders to compensate the neighbours who had paid for legal representation in ‘vexatious’ court cases brought by the Astons.
The 21-day trial heard several neighbours say their lives had been turned into ‘a living hell’ by the Astons.
The court heard former chartered accountant Mr Aston had written a book that featured a character who develops magical powers and uses them to wreak revenge on the local community.
Neighbour Stuart McMorris, 46, told the court he was ‘astonished’ when he discovered the novel in April 2020.
He said: ‘I’m shaking at the moment just thinking about this. We were almost living what we were reading here.’
His partner Catriona Henderson, 45, said Mrs Aston had sent emails to the General Teaching Council for Scotland claiming she was neglecting her children and was using the drugs crystal meth and laughing gas.
The malicious complaints were immediately dismissed.