Edinburgh court: Disabled author who penned novel about targeting neighbours accused of harassing his North Berwick neighbours

Neighbours accuse East Lothian author and his wife of conducting a hate campaign against them

A disbaled author who penned a novel about a stroke victim who targets his neighbours after developing superpowers has appeared in court, accused of carrying out a hate campaign against his own neighbours.

David Aston is alleged to have carried out a shocking series of acts against nearby residents including spreading rumours they were drug dealers and were abusing their children. Aston, 55, and wife Jacqueline are said to have reported neighbours Stuart McMorris and Catriona Henderson to the police and the NSPCC claiming the pair were guilty of child neglect.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the Astons also allegedly reported teacher Ms Henderson to the General Teaching Council of Scotland and made allegations against their neighbours to East Lothian MP Kenny MacAskill.

Witnesses Stuart McMorris and Catriona Henderson pictured outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court after accusing their neighbours, disabled author David Aston and his wife Jacqueline, of conducting a hate campaign against them at Blackadder Crescent, North Berwick, East Lothian.

David and Jacqueline Aston, 57, are standing trial accused of a series of charges relating to stalking and causing neighbours fear and alarm over a three year period at an estate in North Berwick, East Lothian.

Further allegations include the Astons repeatedly filming their neighbours, soaking their neighbour’s children with a sprinkler, throwing shards of glass, compost and debris onto their neighbour’s property, as well as “indicating they wanted to dump infected grass” in their garden during the pandemic.

The trial was told David Aston wrote a novel featuring a character who develops superpowers following a stroke and then sets out “dealing with the local neighbourhood” after residents “decided that he was not welcome anymore”.

Aston, a former chartered accountant, penned ‘A Stroke of Fortune’ after he suffered serious injuries including brain trauma and a massive stroke following a motorway car crash 10 years ago.

Witness Stuart McMorris, 46, told the court he was left “astonished” when he looked at David Aston’s online profile and read the description of the novel in April 2020. He said: “I’m shaking at the moment just thinking about this. We were almost living what we were reading here.”

The online designer spent four days giving evidence detailing the catalogue of abuse he claims he and his family have suffered at the hands of their neighbours. Mr McMorris said the Aston’s conduct against them started soon after they moved into their £500,000 four bedroom home at Blackadder Crescent in North Berwick in October 2018.

He said initial problems included his children being “deliberately” sprayed with water when they played in their garden and arguments over the placement of refuse bins. But the father-of-two told the court their neighbours behaviour towards them escalated when he witnessed them filming and taking photographs of his family.

He told the trial he and partner Ms Henderson then began receiving visits from the police and the local authority after “anonymous complaints” were made against them. He said complaints were also made to the NSPCC in 2020 by ”an anonymous neighbour” who was claiming he and his partner were neglecting and abusing their children.

Mr McMorris said: “We were already stressed out but this was utterly appalling. I couldn’t believe someone would stoop to this kind of behaviour towards us. She [Mrs Aston] was trying to get the children taken away from us.”

He also told the court officers from Crimestoppers attended his property the same year following a further anonymous report claiming he was dealing drugs and abusing his children. He said: “It seemed like another tactic to damage our lives and our reputations.”

Mr McMorris told the court he “suffered huge amounts of distress” and all the “frivolous” complaints made to the authorities against them resulted in no action ever being taken.

The court then heard two complaints were made to the General Teaching Council for Scotland claiming Ms Henderson was dealing drugs from her home. The complaints also stated Ms Henderson was “an unfit mother” and she was guilty of neglecting and abusing her children.

Prosecutor Clare Green told the court: “It is a matter of agreement that in April 2020 the GTCS received two referrals from an individual who identified themselves as Jacqueline Aston from Blackadder Crescent, North Berwick.”

Ms Henderson, 45, took to the witness stand on Monday, October 9, where she said Jacqueline Aston had “a strange obsession” about the positioning of her bins at the front of her house. The mother-of-two also claimed her children were intentionally soaked by the sprinkler system, and delivery drivers dropping off parcels to her home were repeatedly filmed.

The teacher told the court on one occasion before the Astons switched on their sprinkler she overheard Jacqueline Aston say “let the games begin”.

Ms Henderson added the Astons had called the police to report her and Mr McMorris for alleged threatening behaviour in 2019. But after speaking to the officers she said the couple were advised to start logging all the incidents they believed to be harassment. Ms Henderson also told the court the police matter resulted in no action being taken against them.

The Astons deny all the allegations and the trial in front of Sheriff John Cook is due to continue in December.