Telford woman cleared of racially abusing German neighbour

A jury found Etty Bachar not guilty of a charge of racial aggravation with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The verdict was returned today, after a day-long trial where it had been alleged that the 58-year-old called her German neighbour Kirsten Gerasch a 'Nazi spy' in a row over a fence between their homes in Baldwin Webb Avenue, Donnington, in October last year.

Ms Bachar was not present at her trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Wednesday or the sentence today, saying that she had travelled to Israel and her passport had been stolen or seized, and she was unable to return to the UK.

She had instructed solicitors to act on her behalf.

A court was told that Kirsten Gerasch and her partner Nigel Plimmer were standing on their drive way at their home along with chartered surveyor Paul Fisher, when Etty Bachar began shouting abuse from her window.

It was alleged that 58-year-old Bachar called Miss Gerasch a ‘Stasi spy’, referring to the state security spies in east Germany between 1950 and 1990. Miss Gerasch also alleges she was called a ‘Hitler spy’ and a ‘Nazi spy.’

The incident was alleged to have happened at 4pm on October 18, 2016, when the chartered surveyor was at Miss Gerasch’s home to inspect the boundary line between the two properties.

The inspection was due to a dispute between the two parties about where a boundary fence had been built. At this point, prosecutors alleged that, Bachar opened her window and began shouting at Miss Gerasch, referring to her as a Stasi spy.

She has now been cleared of all charges.