A TEENAGER has been given an Antisocial Behaviour Order after a terrified widow she harassed was hospitalised with heart problems.

Anna Matson, of Harpes Road, Oxford, was yesterday banned from an area of Cutteslowe after 18 months of making residents’ lives miserable.

On one occasion she even trapped parishioners inside her local church using a hosepipe to tie the doors.

She targeted grandmother Marlene Cofield, 76, of Templar Road, and threw stones at the windows of her house in an incident that resulted in Mrs Cofield being taken to hospital. Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard how Mrs Cofield was too afraid to leave her house due to Matson’s behaviour.

Matson has also been banned from disrupting meetings or services at St Andrew’s Church, in Linton Road, after repeated antisocial behaviour. Yesterday she appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced for her harassment of Mrs Cofield earlier this year.

The 18-year-old was given an Asbo which bans her from using “threatening, abusive or offensive language” in any public place and “throwing objects at people, property or vehicles”.

For two years Matson, who is unemployed, will also be unable to enter Pennywell Drive, Templar Road, Harefields and Kendal Crescent in Cutteslowe.

Susan Clegg, prosecuting, said the harassment of Mrs Cofield came to a head on September 20.

She said: “Mrs Cofield was in her property when she heard stones being thrown at her windows.

“She hears this over the course of the evening; at 9.30pm, then again at 11pm.

“She rings the police and, while she is on the phone, another stone is thrown. This incident caused her a great deal of distress.

“She begins, during the course of the evening, to have chest pains because of the anxiety, and she was hospitalised as a result.”

A total of 17 letters were received from residents describing Matson’s antisocial behaviour, 12 of which were from local residents.

Applying for a restraining order, the prosecutor said: “This incident has left the victim too terrified of leaving her home even to walk to her local shop. The restraining order will reassure her that the defendant cannot approach her when she is outside her home.”

In mitigation, defence solicitor Catherine Scammell said: “She is a young lady with some issues.

“There are currently some issues in relation to impulsivity and acting without thinking.

“But she completely accepts responsibility for this. She has been quite distressed now that she understands the impact this has had.”

An indefinite restraining order has now also been imposed, preventing the teenager from having any contact with her victim. She was sentenced to a one-year community order with a supervision requirement for the harassment.

Oxford antisocial behaviour officer Mike Ellis said after the hearing that Matson had a “catalogue” of previous offences.

He said: “She has been a significant problem in that area for around 18 months, but hopefully the effect she has had on the victim in this case has opened her eyes.

“The behaviour towards the church was particularly bad, especially as all they were trying to do was reach out and help her.”

Mr Ellis said after making contact with the church’s youth workers, Matson and her friends used to sit in the back during services, drinking, heckling speakers and, on one occasion, using a hosepipe to lock the church doors from the outside.

He added that she had to be arrested and removed from the church on several occasions and was eventually convicted of riotous, violent or indecent behaviour in a place of worship.

A neighbour of Mrs Cofield said he hoped the Asbo worked to stop Matson’s bad behaviour.

“She put that lady through hell,” he said. “She deserves to be punished. I just hope it’s not too late for her to change her ways.”

ASBO DETAILS

ANNA Matson’s Antisocial Behaviour Order prohibits her from:

  • Entering or remaining in the Harefields area in Cutteslowe, Oxford, which includes Pennywell Drive, Templar Road, Harefields and Kendal Crescent.
  • Using threatening, abusive or offensive or sexually explicit language in a public place.
  • Throwing objects at people, property or vehicles.
  • Disrupting in any way the meetings or services of St Andrew’s Church, in Linton Road, Oxford, or any activities at Cutteslowe Community Centre, Wren Road, Oxford.