A MARKET trader admitted shouting a racial slur at her neighbour following a long-running dispute over a planning application.
Linda Bulle, 67, of Rookery Lane, North Fambridge, admitted the charge of racially aggravated harassment at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday last week and was fined £294.
Her victim's husband, who did not wish to be named, told the Chronicle: "It's been antagonistic nastiness for about the last five years, and the business of the racial stuff that's been coming out is extraordinary.
"She was jumping up and down with her arms under her armpits making monkey noises. To see that first hand makes your mouth drop on the floor because you think that kind of thing left us long ago in 1970."
The court heard how on Sunday, August 17, the victim was walking her dogs past the defendant's home, when a dog belonging to Mr and Mrs Bulle began to follow her.
When the victim asked for their dog to be restrained, the prosecution allege she was told to "**** off" by Mr Bulle, before he was joined in the argument by his wife, who then shouted the racial slur, before making "ape-like gestures and noises", according to prosecutor Emma Collins, although Mrs Bulle vehemently denies the latter part of the allegation.
Indeed Mrs Bulle, who works at Chelmsford Market, said that while she regretted the use of the word, she was "bitter" about how she had been treated.
She said: "I have found the whole experience surreal; I thought 'what on earth is the world coming to?'
"I portray myself as a nice lady; I love kids, animals, and old people. I'm not a racist."
The clash between the two women followed a long-standing objection from Mrs Bulle over proposals by the victim to build an outbuilding, with Mrs Bulle being issued with a Community Resolution order as a result of a previous incident.
Defence solicitor Peter Butterfield added: "It's quite clear that there has been something of an ongoing dispute between Mr and Mrs Bulle, and the victim and her husband.
"Mrs Bulle doesn't recall the incident in very great detail, but she accepts that her husband must be correct that she used that word. Both were calling each other silly names, childish names."
The spat between the couples has even seen Mr and Mrs Bulle hire private investigators to ask questions of the couple's former neighbours – who it emerged they had had a good relationship with – and purchasing helmet cameras to record their movements locally.
Mrs Bulle, who said that she was advised to plead guilty to avoid a lengthy case at crown court, was fined £190 plus a £19 surcharge, and £85 in prosecution costs.
