Neighbour from hell racially abused couple for being SCOTTISH and pelted their home with vegetables

A neighbour from hell who racially abused a Scottish couple by pelting their home with vegetables and pint glasses has been spared jail.
James and Elinda Keenan moved to England from Scotland to make a fresh start, but they are now desperate to move after being subjected to months of attacks from their neighbour, David Cross.
Cross, 66, carried out a campaign of violence and intimidation, including racially aggravated harassment, against the Keenans at their home in Hoddesdon, Hertforshire.

James and Elinda Keenan moved to Hoddesden, Hertfordshire last year but already want to leave after a campaign of abuse

Magistrates heard that digger driver Cross had pelted the home with soil, coins, cooking oil, eggs and even drinking glasses.
He also abused the couple for being Scottish.
Yet despite his campaign of fear, Cross walked free from court and was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence and a restraining order.
The Keenans had moved from Glasgow to Hoddesdon in March last year but between June and October they were subjected to racially-aggravated harassment, common assault, criminal damage and threatening behaviour.

On June 24, Cross launched a tirade of abuse at Mr Keenan, including racial references to him being Scottish.
Magistrates heard how Cross harassed the couple by throwing objects at their house over the course of five months.

David Cross, 66, was handed a was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence and a restraining order at Stevenage Magistrates' Court

Charlotte Roos, prosecuting, described a common assault which took place in October last year.
She said: ‘Elinda saw an arm reaching out of the window of the house belonging to the Crosses and a pint glass was being held.
‘This was launched at her and landed on the floor. She screamed and jumped back into the house.’
After the sentencing at Stevenage Magistrates’ Court on Monday, Mr Keenan, 34, said he felt ‘let down by the justice system’.
He said: ‘You don’t think you will go through all that and all he will get is basically a slap on the wrist.
‘I could not have been nicer to him, but he just started becoming hostile towards us. How are we supposed to live with this restraining order when we live so close to each other?’
Mr Keenan said he and his wife were now desperate to move away from Cross as soon as possible.
He added: ‘It has reached the stage where we can’t invite people down to see us. We need to move somewhere else. We’re desperate to go.
‘When we came down from Glasgow we thought it was a fresh start - a new chapter in our lives. It was all so exciting.
‘We’ve not got a problem with other neighbours and we didn’t want it to go this far but how much can you really be expected to take?
‘Both of us just want to get on with our lives.’
Cross pleaded not guilty to six charges, but was found guilty of all counts at an earlier hearing at Hertford Magistrates’ Court on February 5.
At sentencing, he was handed a restraining order and told to make no direct or indirect contact with Mr and Mrs Keenan until further notice.
He was also ordered to pay costs of £350, a victim surcharge of £80 and compensation of £100 each to Mr and Mrs Keenan.

Samantha Jones, mitigating, said: ‘Mr Cross works in the building industry as a digger driver.
‘He has previous convictions, but many years have passed by before the next one. There have been large periods in which he has not been offending against anyone.
‘When he finds stable work it keeps him occupied, but when he loses his job things start to go wrong.
‘To his credit he is known in the area for what he does and is recognised by many people as being a hard worker.’

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