Drina Gray, 52, harassed Ben Stanley, 32, and Emma Williams, 31, “morning, noon and night”
A couple who were tormented by a nightmare neighbour for more than two years have shared their harrowing experience of how their first home together became a “living hell”. Drina Gray, 52, harassed Ben Stanley, 32, and Emma Williams, 31, “morning, noon and night” in an unending campaign of abuse.
The abusive neighbour smashed two Ring doorbells within a year, regularly issued chilling threats via cameras and even allowed her dog to foul their doorstep. The couple had only been dating for about six months before they moved in together, with dreams of starting a family.
However, their domestic bliss was shattered when council tenant Gray moved into the flat below them. The couple revealed that they couldn’t read a book, watch telly or even sleep due to their neighbour’s outrageous behaviour.
The nightmare neighbour has finally been jailed after pleading guilty to charges of harassment intended to cause fear of violence, two counts of criminal damage and a public order offence of using threatening words and behaviour. She was sentenced to 40 months in prison at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday, June 25, with the judge telling her she’d turned the couple’s lives into “hell”.
Ben expressed his frustration at the lengthy process they endured to get justice, stating it left him with “little faith” in his local council, police and the justice system. Despite feeling “let down” by the authorities, the couple are relieved that their neighbour is finally behind bars.
Ben said: “It’s kind of bittersweet, in a sense. It has taken so long to get here, but now we are here, it has all been worth it. It was a really insane time.
“It took an awful lot of resilience and courage to keep going. It kept getting adjourned and you lose hope in the courts and the police. But we carried on and she has got the sentence she deserves.”
Ben purchased his first property in Wandsworth, south west London, in 2022. However, when council tenant Gray relocated to the flat beneath him the following April, his world was turned upside down.
Following his complaint about her kicking her dog, Gray embarked on a “relentless” campaign that trapped Ben and his partner as captives in their own property. Over the subsequent months, Gray destroyed their Ring doorbells, routinely intimidated them and deposited dog excrement on their doorstep.
Product manager Ben claims he even lost his position at a start-up firm due to sleep deprivation caused by Gray’s loud music and hoovering in the communal corridor during the early hours. Numerous disturbing recordings captured by Ben’s security cameras reveal Gray yelling, cursing and menacing him.
Emma, who is employed in marketing, revealed that whilst Gray had made their initial cohabitation difficult, she felt ‘proud’ they had emerged from the ordeal together.
“We had been together six months when I moved in,” she said. “I had spent a long time looking for someone special. I was so excited to live with Ben.
“It was going to be our first home together and we want to have a family. But it just turned into what was literally a living hell. It was really testing on our relationship, but I am really proud we have not taken it out on each other.”
Emma revealed Gray developed a hatred towards her after she moved in, as her partner was amongst the few people she maintained contact with. “I use the word obsession because it was that level,” she explained.
“Drina would always make a point of calling me the wrong name. She was so manipulative. Ben was the only one who gave her the time of day. I think she thought I was a threat to that.
“She would text really inappropriate things to Ben, like ‘you have really nice eyes – but don’t tell your girlfriend I said that’ and ‘why don’t you take me on holiday?’. It was always directed at Ben. I think she was annoyed that I was there.”
The pair were so petrified of Gray – who regularly issued death threats through their cameras and had previous convictions for violence – that they even kept a baseball bat beside the front door. Emma also revealed she was too frightened to be home alone with Gray nearby, refusing to leave the house by herself.
“If I knew she was there, I wouldn’t want to go outside,” she explained. “I would change plans or ask Ben to come home before I went out. We really were trapped.
“She would sit on the stairs and hurl abuse at me, not letting me past. You couldn’t hear the TV. She would have her music on full volume. It was always the same songs.
“I couldn’t read a book. I couldn’t work from home, because you would hear her music or her screaming things or the dog barking. I couldn’t do anything – it was impossible to concentrate.”
Ben confessed it was the mental torment of Gray’s vicious conduct that proved most challenging to endure.
He said: “What people don’t really understand is the psychological and emotional impact it has on you. For me, that’s far worse than anything physical.
“I told the police I would rather she punched or stabbed me, so they would arrest her. Trying to sit down and watch TV and music starts blaring… at work, my Ring doorbell notification would be going off.
“We want to move on and move forward. We just want to do what everybody else can do but takes for granted at home.”
Emma revealed that while she retained a ‘very small’ amount of sympathy for Gray, a letter she read to the judge during sentencing – where the defendant claimed Emma had been ‘jealous’ of her and her partner’s relationship – was ‘nasty’.
“When you say what she did in her letter, you’re just a nasty person,” she said. “I think she enjoys pressing people’s buttons. I think it just became a game for her.”
Court proceedings involving Gray were postponed on at least six occasions before she was eventually sentenced.
In a heartfelt victim impact statement, Ben revealed to the court that Gray’s campaign of harassment had left him feeling “embarrassed, humiliated, numb” and even “suicidal”.
Following Gray’s imprisonment for 40 months, the pair expressed their relief at being able to move forward with their relationship.
“We have endured two-and-a-half years of abuse from Drina, and that’s likely the time she will serve in jail,” Ben said.
“It was right not to suspend the jail term. I think it was a harsh penalty, but one that is deserved. I was really happy with the outcome.
“Will it change her? I don’t know. But if it discourages her from doing it again, then that’s a win.”
Emma added: “Sometimes, we sit in silence and we are like ‘this is so nice – we don’t need to call any lawyers or the council or anyone’. It has been a challenging start to our relationship, but, hopefully it gets better from here.”