Neighbour allegedly kidnapped cat and used toy froags to make excessive croaking noises

A barrister and his wife have taken their pet-obsessed neighbour to court over claims she “trapped” the couple’s cat in a cage and terrorised them with a toy frog during 18 years of harassment.

Employment lawyer Tim Sheppard told a judge that he and his wife Elena Garcia-Alvarez had been “devastated” by the behaviour of Josie Hitchens.

The couple claim that after moving into their five-bedroom home in Finsbury Park, north London, in 2006 Hitchens “trapped” their beloved cat Harry in her garden.

She also allegedly hounded them with the croaking of a motion-activated model frog and “deliberately” let her dogs use the tree outside their home as a toilet.

Mr Sheppard, 56, and his wife, 55, have now gone to court in a bid to curtail acts which they say have caused them “alarm and distress”.

They are seeking an injunction to prevent further alleged harassment, plus £40,000 ($80,000) in damages.

Ms Hitchens, 56, denies the claims, with her lawyers telling the court that much of the case against her was groundless and based on “assumption and inference”.

Mr Sheppard told the court that “problems” between the neighbours started when Ms Hitchens – who the court heard currently keeps around ten cats and three dogs at her flat next door – knocked on their front door a day or so after they moved in.

“I asked her whether she wanted to come in and have a glass of wine, but she refused and started asking about our cat and whether we let it out, and that her cats were the dominant ones in the area.”

According to Mr Sheppard their neighbour’s hostility towards Harry ultimately forced the family to find him a new home.

In a witness statement, Ms Garcia- Alvarez said the couple had endured years of “awful behaviour from her towards us and our cat, which included Josie Hitchens trapping Harry in a cage.”

The barrister also claimed that Ms Hitchens further weaponised her pets by deliberately targeting a tree outside their home as a dog toilet.

Mr Sheppard claimed this was “done on purpose… and done daily,” while his wife added: “When it is warm the stench from the area around the tree in front of our home is overpowering.”

Mr Sheppard went on to claim that a series of intrusive noise nuisances including the unsettling croak of a “novelty” frog had caused disruption over the years.

Asked about the impact of the frog noise by Ms Hitchens’ barrister, he claimed that a pair of electronic frogs were “deployed for months on end,” but not since 2017.

“Much as this might sound trivial, if you take account of the context of the whole behaviour and the noise nuisance then it becomes really disturbing,” he said. In her evidence, Ms Hitchens denied telling Mr Sheppard that her cats were “the dominant ones in the area”.

In her witness statement she then recalled: “The claim ants were pushy and insisted that I allow their cat into my property.”

She added: “I did not trap their cat in my garden”.

The case continues.