Woman jailed for 3 months over garden fence row

A horse breeder locked in a four-year legal battle with a neighbour over a 3ft-wide strip of land was jailed for three months yesterday for refusing to rip up her garden fence.

Samantha Richards, 26, had been to court 20 times to contest the location of the boundary between Tranquillity Cottage, the home she shares with her parents, and that of her neighbour, Tony Benson.

It was far from tranquil in the High Court in Birmingham as Ms Richards was led away to the cells. Shouting from the dock, Ms Richards, who told the court the row has "ruined my life", said to her mother and co-defendant, Teresa Richards: "This is all your fault. I am the one who is suffering."

A judge at Telford County Court ruled in 1998 that Mr Benson, an accountant, was right to claim the disputed strip in the Shropshire village of Hopesay.

But Mrs Richards, 54, whose daughter bought the six-acre plot including the fenced area for £12,000 in 1995, refused to accept the court order to dismantle the 330ft-long fence.

Both Mrs Richards and her daughter were found guilty of contempt of court for maintaining their fence, but the case against Mrs Richards was postponed while her daughter was jailed.

Mrs Justice Alton, sentencing Ms Richards, said: "I regard this whole thing as a tragedy of Greek proportions. The court has made an order which has not been obeyed. Miss Richards has had ample opportunity to take the fence down. During that time, I have been told she has never instructed its removal – it would only take a matter of minutes."

Mrs Richards told the court through her lawyer yesterday that she was prepared to remove the fence after all – but only after the site had been plotted by a surveyor. Until then, the judge said, her daughter would remain in custody.