A 'neighbour from hell' who set fire to belongings outside stranger's homes has been spared jail after launching a poison pen campaign.

Josephine Glover, 56, of Sturge Avenue, Walthamstow, was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence on Wednesday (November 30) after a series of arson attacks against her neighbours.

Glover, a paranoid schizophrenic, torched motorbikes and other property belonging to a number of strangers living close by, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Just months later, Glover was again harassing her neighbours.

A letter, posted through a neighbour’s letterbox in Brooks Croft Road, Walthamstow, on August 5, read: “You're evil.

“The police are coming. Speak to them. Evil.”

Three days later a second letter was posted to the same address, reading: “The devil will get the evil.

“Watch out f***ers. Evil.

“Leave alone.”

Glover made a third visit to the house on August 9, at which point the homeowners called the police.

Prosecuting, Ben Irwin said: “Again, they asked why this was happening.

“Effectively, she said she was sorry and that people were telling her to do this.”

Police arrived to find Glover in a nearby William Hill and were told she suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Glover admitted harassment and breaching a suspended sentence.

Noting the impact felt by her victim, Mr Irwin said: “It is out of the blue and, effectively, she cannot understand why she has been subjected to this.

“She continued to be concerned and scared by what happened.”

Defending, Emi Emenyilora, told the court Glover only returned the third time to apologise.

She said: “Her explanation is to do with her history of mental health.

“She has been diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and it is with that in mind that she explains that she heard voices telling her to do those actions.”

Ms Emenyilora added that Glover also has issues with alcohol and could offer “no specific reason why these individuals appear to be targeted”.

Judge Stephen Dawson told her: "You really cannot keep doing this.

“You have got a two-year sentence looking at you if you do it again, no matter what minor infraction it might be.

“But you must not keep upsetting your neighbours like this.”

Glover was handed a community order with a further 15 days' rehabilitation activity requirement, and a restraining order barring her from going within 30 yards of her victim's address.