Campaign of harassment is finally exposed in court

Janet D'Sa, of Tavistock Road, Croydon, was found guilty of three counts of harassment against her landlords Derek and Annette Jenkins, her postman Gary Spackman and company director James Biley, who lives in the same building as her.

The 49-year-old denied the charges, claiming she was the real victim of harassment and she was targeted by her victims.

Chairing magistrate Su Norword Poole said: "With all of these allegations there is a common thread. You have made numerous claims that the victims targeted you, that you are the real victim of harassment. But you were inconsistent and not credible giving evidence."

D'Sa waged a campaign of harassment through a series of abusive letters which made malicious and untrue allegations sent to the home of her landlords as well as the work address of Mr Biley. Copies of these letters were sent to Croydon Council, the Home Office and Croydon Police.

She claimed Mr Jenkins was the murderer of Sally Anne Bowman and that he hit his wife. She also labelled Mr Biley a racist and claimed he should be sectioned before he "killed someone".

She also falsely accused Gary Spackman of attacking her after he caught her rifling through his postbag. D'Sa took all four victims to the High Court but the cases were thrown out when it was discovered her allegations were unsubstantiated.

As JPs delivered their verdict at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Monday it emerged D'Sa made 10 further allegations against the victims at Tooting police station on Friday.

D'Sa, who has a previous conviction for harassment, has been told she will face a custodial sentence.

She has been released on conditional bail while reports are prepared for her sentencing on April 25.

D'sa is 'clever but evil' says victim's daughter

The daughter of one of D'Sa's former victims described her as "extremely clever but very evil".

D'Sa was spared prison in 2004 after being found guilty of harassing her elderly landlady Sheila Read, then aged 78.

Sheila's daughter Frances revealed how it cost her mum more than £20,000 to represent themselves in court against D'Sa's allegations.

She said: "She even got an injunction out against my mother which we had to defend ourselves against in court. All in all we had 26 court hearings which we had to attend, a mixture of civil and criminal.

"D'Sa is extremely clever but very evil. She has a high IQ and studies the legal system. Having D'Sa as a tenant changed my mother. It aged her and she no longer trusts people."

D'Sa was given a community service order for subjecting Sheila Read to a "living nightmare" by sending her a string of disturbing letters.

Mrs Read received letters containing false and malicious allegations about her and her family within weeks of D'Sa renting a flat on the ground floor of her house in Cheam. D'Sa also claimed she was the real victim of harassment.

Keith Galvau said having Janet D'Sa as his tenant has cost him £16,000.

D'Sa finally left the property she was renting from Mr Galvau in August 2005 after a seven-month battle to get her evicted.

He said: "Every time we tried to evict her she contested it. She would go to a different court, see a different judge and get a stay.

"We've been taken to court many times by her, even the High Court. It's cost us £16,000.

"It's very draining dealing with something like this. It puts a huge strain on family life. We are lucky we have a strong marriage.

"She seems to live off the state and I think she has a lot of time to think and devise schemes to cause maximum stress in people's lives."

Unfounded claims included incest and murder D'Sa's victims have been left financially and mentally drained by their ordeal.

Derek Jenkins and his wife Annette were targeted when D'Sa complained of a faulty shower soon after moving in to a sixth-floor flat they owned in September 2005.

In letters D'Sa accused Mr Jenkins of benefit fraud, hitting his wife and claimed the couple were engaged in incest and three-in-a-bed sex sessions.

D'Sa claimed she had reported him as a suspect in Sally Anne Bowman's murder, saying in a letter: "I bet you did not rush out to give a DNA sample voluntarily."

Mr Jenkins added: "It's been so stressful. Our daughter's wedding was at the weekend and all we've been able to think of is this case. D'Sa also took us to the High Court but it was thrown out by the judge.

"It has cost us thousands of pounds in legal representation. She qualifies for legal aid so pays nothing."

James Biley, 32, is the managing director of the company that owns the building D'Sa lives in. He also owns a property in the block and deals with issues relating to communal areas.

She bombarded him with complaints about the property and then continuously knocked at his door before sending malicious letters to his place of work, calling him racist and claiming he needed to be sectioned.

Mr Biley said: "I still live in the same building as her. Even now I wonder whether anything else will be pushed through my letterbox. She took me and my company to the High Court in November involving various allegations, including an attempt to get an injunction against us, but the judge said her case was without merit.

"We had to pay for our legal representation and she was ordered to pay our court costs, but she has no money."

Postman Gary Spackman, 37, was falsely accused of beating D'Sa after he caught her rifling through his postbag. She claimed Mr Spackman beat her so badly she could not leave her house for two weeks, which she could not prove.

Mr Spackman, whose father is terminally ill, was also taken to the High Court by D'Sa. He was left so traumatised by his brush with D'Sa he changed his post route to avoid her block of flats.

She exploited legal aid to fight her baseless claims

A housing association boss said D'Sa needs to be stopped from claiming thousands of pounds in legal aid for her bogus allegations and court appearances.

Ozay Ali, chief executive of Croydon Churches Housing Association in Wellesley Road, succeeded in getting D'Sa evicted from a supported living scheme in Wallington three years ago.

D'Sa was a tenant of the housing association from the late 1990s until 2004. She was served with an eviction notice in 2001 following a string of complaints.

Mr Ali said: "All in all there were around 30 court orders. Some of them were instigated by her but she would claim she was being evicted unfairly.

"She would also do things like change lawyers halfway through which meant proceedings would be delayed, costing yet more money.

"It cost the housing association around £64,000 in legal fees. That's money that could have been spent on our tenants. We know we will never see any of that money back, despite the fact she was ordered to pay our costs."

D'Sa made a variety of unfounded allegations against the housing association and even took them to the High Court - all at the expense of the taxpayer, Mr Ali said.

He added: "D'Sa never pays, but her victims always do, mentally and financially. She's claims benefits and qualifies for legal aid. Every time she goes to the High Court it costs her the price of a travel card - it costs her victims £1,000 a go in legal representation.

"Even if she is ordered to pay your court costs she never will because she has no assets and cannot afford to pay. I believe she enjoys her day in court.

"I would love to know the extent of how much legal aid this woman has claimed. It must be a huge amount of public money. She wastes police time and exploits the legal system. She needs to be stopped."