Guilty, OAP neighbour in deep-fried feud with top chippy
- Pensioner Annie Harrower-Gray was arrested and detained overnight after failing to turn up for sentencing
An author spent a night behind bars after hurling water at chip shop customers because she claimed they were disturbing her as they queued in a lane outside her home.
Annie Harrower-Gray, 68, was arrested and detained overnight when she failed to turn up for sentence after being found guilty of breaching the peace.
Sheriff George Way placed Harrower-Gray – who was led into the dock at Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday in handcuffs – under social work supervision for 12 months.
He said: ‘This has all arisen out of an unfortunate clash of personalities.
She doesn’t like the people in the shop and they don’t like her. That’s very obvious.’
Annie Harrower-Gray was abusive to customers as they waited in line outside The Wee Chippy
The Wee Chippy is a popular fish and chip shop in the Fife village of Anstruther
The court heard how the author targeted customers as they waited in line outside The Wee Chippy in the Fife village of Anstruther.
The chip shop is one of three in Scotland recently named as finalists in the Fish and Chip Takeaway of the Year category at the National Fish and Chip Awards.
The fed-up pensioner – who penned Scotland’s Hidden Harlots and Heroines – also grappled with a neighbour and blocked people from using the lane.
The court was told that the freelance writer became a familiar figure in Tolbooth Wynd as she would regularly tackle visitors to the chip shop.
Harrower-Gray was found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner by acting aggressively, throwing water at customers and hurling offensive remarks on July 19, 2021.
She was also found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner on August 3, 2021 by standing in the lane and intentionally blocking it while staring at customers and throwing water at them.
Additionally, she was found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive way in Tolbooth Wynd on September 16, 2021 – firstly by blocking Carla Young, 18, and then her mother, Lisa Young.
Harrower-Gray was found to have acted aggressively by refusing to let them use the public lane, seizing hold of Lisa Young’s arm and grabbing her dog lead.
She was found not guilty of a fourth charge which alleged she shouted and swore at a 16-year-old girl on September 18, 2021.
Nursery worker Carla Young told the trial: ‘I bumped into Annie and she said I could not go down the public lane to my house.
‘She refused to let me past and pushed me against her wall. She was pretty aggressive and seemed under the influence as I could smell it on her.
‘My mum came out and Annie still refused to let us past. She grabbed my mum by her wrist as she wasn’t letting her past.
‘I don’t know if it was my mum or the owner of the chippy who called the police, but I remember the police turning up.’
A staff member at the chip shop told the trial: ‘I have had run-ins with her before. She started assaulting customers, saying they were fat and if they had a fish supper they’d die.
‘I don’t know why, but she always starts it and she was the one standing with a menacing face.’
Harrower-Gray had been ordered to appear for sentence on September 25, but she failed to turn up and was arrested on a warrant.
The St Andrews University graduate has written several books including Suspicion and Superstition.
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