Nightmare neighbour terrorised couple through Ring doorbell

Countless disturbing videos were captured by a Ring Doorbell which shows a nightmare council housing tenant shouting, swearing and threatening a neighbour.

Drina Gray, 52, harassed victims Ben and Emma - who do not want to give their surnames - "morning, noon and night", a judge said.

Terrorised by nightmare neighbour

Ben, 32, bought his first flat in Wandsworth, southwest London, in 2022.

But when council tenant Gray moved into the flat below his the following April, his life changed.

After reporting her for kicking her dog - which he says he caught on CCTV cameras - Gray launched into a "relentless" campaign that made Ben and his partner Emma prisoners in their own home.

Blasting loud music

In the months that followed, Ben's neighbour smashed two Ring doorbells in less than a year, issued regular chilling threats via cameras and took her dog to dirty their doorstep.

The product manager even lost his job at a startup company because of the lack of sleep he was getting due to Gray blasting loud music and hoovering the communal hallway in the early hours of the morning.

After Gray was finally prosecuted for her campaign of hate and a judge ordered her into custody, she escaped from court and went on the run for weeks.

Jailed for hate campaign

She claimed that Ben had been using her as "bait" to make his 31-year-old partner Emma, who also lives at the flat, jealous after a break-up.

But jailing her for 40 months, Judge Peter Lodder KC told her she had harassed the couple "morning, noon and night".

"You made the lives of your neighbours hell," he said. "You persistently harassed them morning, noon and night.

"Despite orders being obtained to seek to prevent you from behaving in the way you did, you continued in your campaign.

Alcohol is ‘no excuse’

"It may well be that you were under the influence of alcohol, but that is not an excuse - it's an aggravation.

"It's no consolation at all to the people you were threatening with extreme violence.

"This was over a period of six months. You well knew what you were doing."

Judge Lodder jailed Gray for 40 months after she admitted charges of harassment intended to put in fear of violence, two charges of criminal damage relating to doorbell cameras she smashed and a public order offence of using threatening words and behaviour towards Ben.

A further charge of failing to comply with a community protection notice was dealt with by way of a two-year conditional discharge at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court in June.

Ben, who claims he recorded "140" separate incidents of harassment over 18 months, has complained previously of the way Gray's case was dealt with by the authorities, including by the Metropolitan Police, Wandsworth Council and the court services.

Threat to shoot neighbour

He claims that when Gray once threatened to "shoot" him and his partner Emma, who works in marketing, police took "13 hours" to respond.

Court cases involving Gray were adjourned multiple times before she was finally sentenced for her offending.

Prosecutor Dylan Bub, said in May 2024, Gray broke the first of two Ring doorbell cameras - which cost £100 each - by punching it "repeatedly".

Mr Bub told the court that after Ben reported Gray's harassment to police, she continued to make threats - including once threatening to burn his house down.

He continued: "[Gray said]: 'It's not me you have to worry about, it's Chris... We need a nice fire, don't we?'."

Gray was issued a community protection notice later in the summer, which the court heard she broke that same day.

Once arrested and charged, Gray's case dragged through the courts, being adjourned multiple times for a variety of reasons.

Victim felt ‘suicidal’

On one occasion, Gray absconded from court after the case was adjourned, prompting a desperate police search and a warrant for her arrest.

But after she was eventually caught and brought before a crown court judge, the prosecutor said "no evidence" had been provided by police, and the charge was dropped.

Ben told Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court that Gray's abusive campaign had left him feeling "embarrassed, humiliated, numb" and even "suicidal".

Gray read a personal letter to the judge out in court, in which she apologised for her actions but also claimed Ben had used her as "bait" to make his partner 'jealous'.

Her defence advocate, Tammy Sher, also told the court several car accidents had driven her to alcohol, and that she too has suffered from suicidal thoughts.

But Judge Lodder said she "deserved" her sentence, telling her: "You were given many a warning. You chose to ignore these warnings and breach the notices that were served upon you.

"I am aware of the consequences of your behaviour: [the victims] were frightened in their own homes, incapable of relaxing.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service said: “Drina Gray conducted herself appallingly, and we extend our sympathies to her victim, who endured an unrelenting campaign of harassment.

“The defendant admitted to numerous offences – including harassment and criminal damage – following a Met investigation. She awaits sentencing for these.

“Adjournments in case hearings are at the discretion of the courts. A charge of escaping from court on Wednesday, 26 March, was initially brought against Gray by the Met.

"However, this was later discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service.”