Neighbours At War Over Union Jack Bunting

Bunting: Julie Anderson

A royalist, accused of racially harassing her neighbours, was arrested the day after she shouted and swore at one of them for removing coronation Union Jack bunting from her home, a court heard.

Julie Anderson, 54, says she recorded neighbour Marcia-Elouise Worrell taking down the flags and can be heard repeatedly shouting: “F*** off, Queen and country, you’re c****, you f***ing racist c****, for my Queen for my country, for my King for my Queen.”

Anderson, of Strathan Close, Putney pleaded not guilty to the racially-aggravated harassment of Mrs Worrell and her daughter Allana Roucou between March 1 and June 12 this year and was acquitted by Wimbledon Magistrates.

She was also cleared of simply harassing Ms Roucou, but was found guilty of harassing Mrs Worrell and was bailed for a pre-sentence report to October 13.

Marcia-Elouise told the court: “She would shout at me: ‘There’s no black in the Union Jack,’ and it escalated during the Coronation, asking people if they knew how to sing the National Anthem.

“She would sing ‘Morning Has Broken’ a she walked past my house and she would emphasise the words ‘BLACKbird has spoken,’ deliberately.

“She threw her Union Jack bunting into my front garden and it makes me feel she has an issue with anybody that is not white.”

Anderson was arrested on June 11, the day after Marcia-Elouise visited her home, where she was recorded on the defendant’s mobile phone reaching up to the Union Jack bunting.

“I felt like she was using those flags to antagonise the community, but I did not pull them down.

"In Our Faces": Union Jack Bunting

“I’d had enough of ‘no black in the Union Jack’ and the flags being in our faces. It was not patriotism it was racism.”

Regarding the flags Marcia-Elouise conceded: “I was saying: ‘Get rid of this.’

“I was fed up of the things that she said to us that were so evil. Just leave us alone.”

She said there were earlier incidents involving Anderson, who she said deliberately walked to her home to harass her family.

Marcia-Elouise said trouble started when she challenged Anderson about her behaviour towards a 17 year-old girl walking her chihuahuas on the close green.

“She was very aggressive towards the girl, calling her a c***, and I said: ‘You can’t shout at her like that.’

“After that she made it an almost daily event to come to my address and shout abuse. 

“She accused me of being a crackhead, a drug-offender, a paedophile and that I am sleeping with her doctor.

“She made statements about my race and my colour and her rants last about ten minutes and I feel she needs help. I did not want it to become a police matter.

Allana Roucou & Marcia-Elouise Worrell

“When we were in our front garden she tried to punch my daughter in the back of the head and she tried to bite my face and she then threw a carton of milk.”

Anderson claims she is victimised by her neighbours. “They harass the s*** out of me,” she told the court.

“I love the Royal Family, I’m traditional and I put the flags up every year for the tennis and any royal occasions.

“They call me a racist, but I am not racist. It is our flag, the flag of the UK and it was the coronation.”

Anderson told the magistrates she was harassed by Marcia-Elouise, the day before she was arrested, when the complainant came to her house.

She recorded the confrontation, which was played in court, showing her neighbour reaching up over her front door.

“What is she doing ripping down our beautiful Union Jacks? Flags for our King, our United Kingdom,” she told the trial from the witness box.

“They are racist against our King and Queen.

“I am not a racist. I am allowed to put my flags up and I put them up for the tennis as well.

“They have lied on the stand, but I have been truthful.”

Ms Roucou told the trial Anderson would shout outside the family house at 2am. “She would shout that number forty-five were drug dealers and that we abuse our kids.

“When I asked her to leave us alone she told me to f*** off.

“One day we were in our front garden and Julie approached and I received a blow to the back of my head. 

“My seventeen year-old brother intervened and Julie opened milk or some sort of liquid and threw it over us.

“She would continue to visit the address and shout number forty-five are c****, that we touch our kids and sell drugs.

“It is awful being awoken by this outside and it instantly puts me on edge and I cannot rest.”

The daughter also confirmed she heard Anderson shout: ‘There’s no black in the Union Jack.’  

“It meant that black people are not part of the UK and it felt really inflammatory. It made me feel I did not belong and that my identity can be used against me.”

The court was played further CCTV from near the complainants’ home, which they say recorded Anderson shouting at 2am: “You’re a crackhead Marcia. Smoking drugs.”

Ms Roucou told the trial: “There is no drug-taking in my household and she is associating black people with drugs. I am not a drug-user.”

Bench Chairman Gilles Casse announced: “In our opinion we don’t believe a custodial sentence would be appropriate in this case.

“After listening to the evidence we have not seen any evidence of direct comments of a racist nature towards either individual.”

Outside court Anderson said: “I loved our Queen. It broke my heart when she died because she was like a mother to me as I don’t have a mother.”