North Berwick couple ordered to move house after making neighbours' lives 'a nightmare'

A disabled author and his wife who carried out a hate campaign against their neighbours - including making malicious claims of child abuse and drug dealing - have been banned from contacting the victims for years.

David, 56, and Jacqueline Aston, 58, will also now have to move house after a sheriff imposed banning orders from the street they live on and ordered them to pay four neighbours £10,000 in compensation.

The married couple made false reports to the police and local authority and recorded the neighbours on mobile phones on a near daily basis over a three year period.

Jacqueline Aston also reported neighbour Catriona Henderson to the General Teaching Council for Scotland in a bid to wreck her teaching career claiming she was neglecting her children. The staff nurse, who has since resigned from her job, also reported Ms Henderson’s partner to the council and mortgage company claiming he was running a business from his home at a plush estate in North Berwick, East Lothian.

A trial spanning 24 days over 11 months was told David Aston had written and self-published a book that featured a character who develops superpowers following a stroke. The character in the novel A Stroke of Fortune then uses his superpowers to wreak revenge on his local community. 

Jacqueline and David Aston outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court | Alexander Lawrie

Aston, a former chartered accountant, penned the novel after suffering serious injuries including brain trauma and a massive stroke following a motorway car crash 10 years ago.

The Astons were found guilty of three charges of stalking by Sheriff John Cook following the conclusion of the trial last month and the couple returned to the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing on Thursday.

Lawyer Nicola Haston, defending Jacqueline Aston, said her client was now unemployed and had “no income at all”.

Ms Haston said: “Mrs Aston has reflected what was said at the trial and she now accepts that perhaps her behaviour was concerning for her neighbours.”

Mark Harrower, for David Aston, said his client had suffered from a severe brain injury and a stroke in the car crash and has been left with impairment that is “lifelong and permanent”.

The solicitor told the court as a consequence of his conviction Aston has been asked to step down from his position as trustee with the East Lothian branch of the Head and Brian Injury charity. Aston has also been suspended from a non-trustee position with the Chest, Heart and Stroke organisation and had to stop volunteering with the Stroke Association.

Sheriff John Cook told the couple their behaviour had “involved planning” and had caused the neighbours “very serious distress and significant psychological harm”.

Jacqueline Aston was sentenced to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and pay a total of £8,000 in compensation to neighbours Catriona Henderson and Stuart McMorris and Marie and Robert Bain.

David Aston was placed under supervision for three years, ordered to pay Ms Henderson and Mr McMorris £2,000 in compensation and wear a tagging device and stay within his home between 6pm and 6am for eight months.

The Astons were also handed non-harassment orders - Ms Aston for 15 years and Mr Aston for three years - banning them from contacting six neighbours and given a non-harassment order banning them from the street they live on which will start on January 31 next year.

Victims of the Astons told the trial their three year ordeal at the hands of the couple had been “intimidating”, “utterly appalling” and “a living hell” as well as seriously affecting their health.

High school teacher Catriona Henderson, 45, told the court Jacqueline Aston had contacted the GTCS to report her for neglecting her children and claiming she was used drugs including laughing gas and crystal meth. Ms Henderson said Mrs Aston had told the teaching authority she had locked one of her children out in the cold without adequate clothing in the middle of winter.

The teacher said the Astons had repeatedly made “malicious” complaints about her family and the local authority alone had received 140 complaints in just five months during 2019. Her partner Stuart McMorris said a complaint was also made to the NSPCC by ”an anonymous neighbour” who claimed he and his partner were neglecting and abusing their children.

Neighbour Marie Bain, 67, said the Astons had made her life “a misery” due to them using phones and cameras to record her “almost on a daily basis”. Mrs Bain, 67, said her neighbours raised a court action against her and during the legal process discovered they had made 248 recordings of her family - including 67 times in just one day.

Husband Robert Bain, 64, described the “constant monitoring” as “stalking” and said he was eventually forced to cancel family gatherings in their garden.

The engineer said: “We moved to North Berwick to our dream home to retire to, but the dream has turned to a nightmare.”

The Astons told the trial the neighbours “did not like us” and had made up the allegations in a bid to make them move away from the estate. Jacqueline Aston also claimed the reports to the police, the council and the GTCS were not malicious as she had grounds for concern over her neighbour’s behaviour.

She said she and her husband were keen bird watchers and regularly used cameras and binoculars to enjoy their hobby while inside their home.

The Astons were found guilty of engaging in a course of conduct which caused three sets of neighbours fear and alarm at Blackadder Crescent in North Berwick, East Lothian, between October 2018 and October 2021. Jacqueline Aston was also found guilty of assaulting Marie Bain by striking her with a bin on January 31, 2023 and to breaching bail conditions on three occasions.