Neighbour's Wisteria Destroyed in Crutch Attack, Court Hears
A north London woman has been convicted of assault and criminal damage after attacking her neighbour with a crutch following a dispute over a wisteria plant. Atidel Boutara Cook, 50, was found guilty at Highbury Magistrates' Court after a trial heard she struck her neighbour multiple times with her walking aid.
Violent Confrontation Over Garden Plant
The incident occurred on December 17 last year when Boutara Cook was confronted by her upstairs neighbours, Pei Wong and Louis Scott, after they discovered she had cut down their wisteria plant. The couple, who own the freehold of the Victorian property in Stanhope Gardens, Tottenham, approached their neighbour of twenty years to ask her to stop damaging their plants.
"When she noticed my wife was filming her, she seemed to rather lose control of herself," Mr Scott told the court. "She started screaming abuse and waving her arms, she grabbed my wife's phone. She also then came up to my wife and struck her a number of times with her crutch."
Court Hears Details of the Attack
The prosecution presented video evidence from Ms Wong's phone that captured the confrontation. District Judge Oliver described hearing a "metallic-like sound, thumping on to Ms Wong" which he said was consistent with the sound of a crutch making contact.
Ms Wong testified about the physical and emotional impact of the attack: "I would say that I was shaking. I couldn't believe that she repeatedly continued to hit me even though I didn't say a single word to her."
Defendant's Claims Rejected by Court
Boutara Cook, who attended court with a red walking frame, denied both offences during the trial. She claimed the wisteria plant was "dead" and was affecting air quality in her ground-floor flat. She also suggested the couple owed her money for the garden space.
However, District Judge Oliver rejected her testimony, stating: "I find your evidence to be palpably untrue and I reject it. I am sure that you are guilty." The judge noted that Boutara Cook had not checked her leasehold agreement or sought permission before destroying the plant.
Twenty Years of Neighbour Tension
The court heard that despite living as neighbours for two decades, the parties rarely interacted directly. Ms Wong testified: "The defendant never talks to us never ever, it's always go to the legal, the lawyers."
During the trial, defence counsel Bilal Miah suggested the couple had attacked Boutara Cook first, but this was firmly denied by the complainants. The judge ultimately advised both parties to "just stay away from each other" as he released Boutara Cook on conditional bail ahead of sentencing on May 6.
The case highlights how long-standing neighbour disputes can escalate into physical violence, with the destruction of property triggering a violent response that resulted in criminal convictions.
