A couple who waged war on their neighbours over access to a country lane have been told to "grow up" after a decade-long campaign of abuse and harassment.
Stephen and Jacqueline Gee created a "rural hell" for Jason and Averil Little, who moved in next door to their Dorset farm in 2012.
Decorated Army Major Mr Little and his wife endured 10 years of poisonous abuse, which escalated to Mr Gee, a retired aircraft engineer, being given a restraining order which he later breached.
The hostility surrounded access to a country lane between their farm and the Littles' £900,000 home, with Mr Gee often abusing visitors and delivery drivers.
On one occasion, the 68-year-old told a delivery driver to "get the f*** off my land".
The Gees blocked the lane with a gate and concrete bricks, putting up fake signs to misdirect drivers.
In one sinister move, Stephen Gee snuck into the Littles' garden at night wearing a balaclava, slashing an outdoor pool with a knife in order to flood their garden.
The disturbing act was caught on CCTV and culminated in Gee being convicted of criminal damage.
But instead of moving on, the criminal conviction only fuelled Gee's anger, with the pensioner escalating his behaviour to "put two fingers up" at the courts.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard there was "a history of unpleasantness" between Mr and Mrs Gee and their neighbours after they moved into Milk House in the hamlet of Puxey, near Sturminster Newton.
"They had been interfering with delivery drivers and misdirecting people away from the Little's property by putting up signs and impeding their access," prosecutor Nigel Hall said.
"In December 2020, concrete blocks had been pulled across the lane and signs erected.
"A friend was looking after Mrs Little's cats and chickens in April 2021. As he came down the track he came across a fuel delivery truck and heard Mr Gee shouting, 'get the f**k off my land'. Situations like this kept happening".
In a statement read to the court, Mrs Little described feeling as though her family was living in a "state of seige".
"My children are extremely frightened of them and their dogs," she said. "My elder daughter fears he will climb into her bedroom window.
"He was filmed creeping into the garden wearing a balaclava. These sightings of him in the garden has shaped their childhood.
"I worry constantly for the safety of people visiting our property. They accuse us of trying to kill their animals.
"Their behaviour is so erratic its like constantly living under a state of siege. We are a hard working, law abiding family."
Mr Little served in the army and was awarded the Military Cross for displaying inspirational leadership in battle in Afghanistan in 2008.
Mr Gee pleaded guilty to charges of harassment and breaching a restraining order. Mrs Gee, 69, also admitted harassment.
Mary Aspinall-Miles and Richard Martin, defending the Gees, both argued that their clients had a 'legitimate concern' about delivery drivers and visitors on the track that they own.
"There was a legitimate concern for the lane itself or the animals that might have escaped and the general nuisance of delivery drivers going up their lane," Mr Martin said.
Mrs Gee meanwhile was described as "not a well woman" who now carried a "badge of shame".
But sentencing the pair, Judge Richard Pawson said the couple had acted "disgracefully" and told them to grow up.
"You are both in your 60s. You have behaved disgracefully. I am not persuaded that there is a proper reason for the grievance you nurse."
"It is the fact that the two of you, for reasons unknown, have developed an obsession with your law abiding neighbours," Judge Pawson added.
"You have turned where you live into a rural hell. You both knew full well the impact of your actions and it is the reason you were so unpleasant.
"The only thing that is going to resolve the issue is if you are able to look within yourselves and grow up".
Mr Gee was given a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years, while Mrs Gee's 10 week sentence was suspended for a year. The couple were also fined a total of £2,000 between them, plus a £3,000 victim surcharge, and given an indefinite restraining order.
