Khadija Bibi, 36, a mother-of-seven, has been ordered by the courts to pay to pay Mrs Kaur £500 compensation after she pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment without violence
A vicious dispute erupted between two neighbours who had lived side-by-side for almost two decades after they built matching extensions on their homes.
Khadija Bibi, 36, and Ayshea Kaur, 35, built almost identical ground floor extensions on the back of their suburban semi-detached houses in Milton Road, Stretford, Greater Manchester.
But Bibi, who built an extension on her £250,000 home first, sparked a catty war of words with her 17-year-long neighbour by objecting to plans by Mrs Kaur to build one of her own.
She followed up her objections with cruel insults, including mocking Mrs Kaur about a miscarriage, as well as calling her insulting names and threatening to ‘knock her out’.
It became so bard Mrs Kaur became ‘scared’ in her own home and has since moved away.
Now Bibi, a mother-of-seven, has been ordered by the courts to pay to pay Mrs Kaur £500 compensation after she pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment without violence.
The so-called ‘Battle of Milton Road’ began when Mrs Kaur applied to Trafford Council in April 2019 to have a ground floor extension built on her home.
The extension was designed by the same architect who had developed Bibi’s and plans show they were almost identical.
The so-called ‘Battle of Milton Road’ began when Mrs Kaur applied to Trafford Council in April 2019 to have a ground floor extension built on her home. Pictured: Khadija Bibi’s home (number 68 Milton Road) on the right, next to Ayshea Kaur’s former home (number 70 Milton Road) on the left
Bibi had built an extension on her £250,000 home before Ms Kaur had applied for planning permission for her extension. Pictured: The plans for Bibi’s extension
The extension was designed by the same architect who had developed Bibi’s and plans show they were almost identical. Pictured: The plans for Mrs Kaur’s extension
Pictured here is the floor plan of the two extensions, with Bibi’s plans on the left and Mrs Kaur’s plans on the right
But Bibi told the council she objected to the development, because the building would lean against the wall of her extension.
The one-time friends fell out and began a feud, with the pair exchanging dirty looks over the moving by contractors of wheelie bins to clear guttering.
But it escalated into the hurling of cruel insults with Bibi standing in her front garden and taunting mother of one Mrs Kaur about a recent miscarriage she had suffered.
In one confrontation, Bibi shouted at her: ‘no wonder you had a miscarriage, you deserved it’. She also called the victim a ‘fat c*nt’, ‘four eyes’ and ‘ugly b*tch’.
Mrs Kaur was so distressed she had to be escorted inside her home by her family as Bibi stood on her driveway making offensive hand gestures.
Later when Mrs Kaur stepped outside again Bibi laughed at her and threatened to ‘knock her out’ in front of her children.
She also subjected the victim to noisy banging on her walls and windows and playing loud music in the middle of the night.
Police were called after Mrs Kaur compiled an eight page log detailing incidents between November last year and June this year which she said left her feeling ‘isolated and intimidated.’
Bibi told the council she objected to Mrs Kaur’s development, because the building would lean against the wall of her extension. Pictured: Mrs Kaur’s former home with the extension at the back
The one-time friends fell out and began a feud, with the pair exchanging dirty looks over the moving by contractors of wheelie bins to clear guttering. Pictured: The extension of Bibi’s home on Milton Road
In a statement to police she said: ‘I have lived at my family home for 17 years and don’t consider myself a confrontational person. As a parent I feel I can’t offer protection to my family and this has affected my daughter’s studies.
‘I feel harassed and scared to leave my house in case I see her, the last few months have been horrible it has affected me so much I feel scared to go out. I feel isolated and intimidated and scared in my own home.’
Mrs Kaur’s husband Baldev said: ‘I’m scared to go home and scared to even go into my front garden I wish she would leave me and my family alone so I can live in peace.’
At Manchester Magistrates’ Court, Bibi wept as she was ordered to pay Mrs Kaur £500 compensation after she pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment without violence.
Prosecutor Nicola Durham said: ‘The complainant in this matter has suffered had an ordeal for several months and from November to June she has compiled an eight page statement detailing issues with the defendant.
‘They had started off as friends and neighbours but there was a dispute over issues with planning permission for an extension and that is where it all turned sour and escalated from dirty looks.’
At Manchester Magistrates’ Court, Bibi wept as she was ordered to pay Mrs Kaur £500 compensation after she pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment without violence.
In mitigation defence lawyer Andrew Cowan said: ‘There is a lengthy history and a lot of toing and froing.
‘Ms Bibi on her house built an extension on her house, there was an issue and she had to apply for retrospective planning permission.
‘The victim then applied to build a similar extension on her property and the plan was that the extension would lean against the wall of Ms Bibi’s existing extension.
‘Ms Bibi told the council she didn’t want this but she didn’t realise that by telling them she didn’t want it to happen that would be counted as a formal objection and things then escalated from there.
‘She is extremely remorseful and embarrassed to be in court, she’s ashamed of her behaviour. It has ruined a friendship and made her one time friends move away.’
He added that the incident had an a ‘poor effect’ on Bibi’s mental health.
Chair of the bench Yung Buckley told Bibu: ‘What you have done is really not acceptable. You’ve caused your neighbour of 17 years a long period of distress due to your behaviour.
‘You have seven children yourself – you should be setting them a good example of how to behave.’
Bibi was ordered to complete a four month community order and will have to abide by a 7pm to 7am curfew.