- Jan Krause’s Community service order cut from 250 hours to 157 hours
- She had conducted five-year harassment campaign against neighbour
- Krause had gone to court of appeal to completely quash conviction
- Complained that motor didn’t work properly on lawnmower
- Judge said Krause would be better if she put all her troubles behind her and ‘got on with life’
By
Phil Vinter
14:27 EST, 23 May 2012
|
14:39 EST, 23 May 2012
Appealed: Transsexual Jan Krause found guilty of harasment had her community service order cut to 157 hours because the lawnmower she was using was too heavy
A transsexual ordered to do community service for conducting a five-year harassment campaign has been told she doesn’t have to do her final 100 hours because the lawnmower she has been asked to use is too heavy.
Jan Krause, 48, who was born a man, narrowly evaded a jail sentence in August 2010 because judges felt she a custodial sentence would be too dangerous for her.
Instead Krause, who was found guilty of carrying out a ‘cold war’ of surveillance against neighbouring family was ordered to do 250 hours community service in the picture-postcard Cheshire village of Hartford, near Northwich.
During the sustained campaign aimed at driving neighbour Carol Story out of her home in she posted recordings of the neighbours on YouTube, crashed into their cars and erected a roof-mounted device which emitted a high-pitched whine in their direction.
Now, at the Court of Appeal, Krause has succeeded in having her graveyard labour duties reduced to 157 hours – which taking into account the community service work she has just seven hours outstanding.
Lord Justice Moses said had said he would cut the order to 150 hours to end her punishment immediately, but added on seven hours on her request so she could say ‘goodbye’ to her community service friends.
In court Krause had complained that the lawn mower motor had been disconnected from the machine which made it difficult to move. She said: ‘I’m pushing a lawnmower around a graveyard every Sunday. No one can push that lawnmower. I do my best, but I feel it is undeserved punishment.’
The judge said Krause would be better off if she put her court troubles behind her and got on with her life.
‘We just think all these quarrels, litigation, police and courts make life so much worse for you and your family,’ said the judge, sitting with Mr Justice Underhill and Judge Melbourne Inman QC.
Representing herself at the Court of Appeal, unemployed Krause had tried to overturn the convictions, claiming she was a victim of mistaken identity and trying to shift some of the blame onto her neighbours, who have since moved. The judges rejected her conviction appeal.
Krause is also subject to a 10-year restraining order following her conviction for harassment against Neighbour Carol Story.
Chester Magistrates Court heard the feud began after Miss Story and her children moved into a £500,000 detached home in Hartford, near Northwich.
Krause claimed the new central heating system they installed was too noisy and security lighting was too bright
When council officials refused to take action over the alleged noisy central heating, Krause sent an email to them saying: ‘As you will be all too aware, due to your statutory refusal to accept the noise I have complained about, my family home has been rendered blighted and tantamount to a war zone. I am now on war footing.’
Scene of the crime: The small village of Hartford in Cheshire where Krause conducted her five-year harassment campaign against a neighbour
She placed obstacles on grass verges to stop visitors parking and repeatedly bumped her car into other vehicles – one while Miss Story’s daughter was inside.
For several months Krause would blow a whistle or sound her car horn every time she saw Miss Story – then lift up an earphone to suggest she was listening in before scribbling in her notebook.
She recorded the family’s comings and goings between 2004 and 2009, regularly taking pictures of them and keeping a diary of their movements with more than 600 entries.
On another occasion she called armed police who raided Miss Story’s house at 3am when her twin sons held a James Bond fancy dress themed party for their 18th birthday and they were seen with toy Walther PPK pistols.
And she also erected a roof-mounted device which emitted a high-pitched whine in the direction of Miss Story’s home for nearly a year before authorities ordered her to take it down or face court action.
During the trial Miss Story said: ‘I felt totally intimidated in my own home and my whole life had been turned upside down.
‘It was getting me really down and depressed and after nine months of it, I put my house on the market. I couldn’t stand the thought of being there any longer and being watched.’
The court heard Krause – whose mother has difficulty accepting her sex change treatment – was found guilty of harassment in June.
She arrived at court with two rucksacks, a pillow and a bed-roll, suggesting she expected to be sent to prison.
Instead her twelve-week jail term was suspended by District Judge Sanders despite hearing that Krause could not accept she had done anything wrong.
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As a former community service supervisor, when ‘clients’ (probation service description!) complained that gardening was too difficult because of so-called “heavy machinery”; I always gave them the option of using hand shears to cut the grass! It’s funny how many found the “strength” to use the machinery!
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And would this story have been published if the subject of the tale had not been a trans-sexual? I think not! People are people regardless of the body they live in, whether gender re-assigned or not. Get over it: if she has broken the law, she deserves to be punished with due consideration of her capabilities, just the same as any other person.
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hahahaha. a judge would laugh his butt off if anyone over here tried pulling that. Why cut the sentence? She couldnt just been ordered to do something different???? Sheesh…
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Then give her a pair of shears!
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She is carrying a heavy bag and has a bulky backpac on! This is absolute tosh.
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Well, this doesn’t seem like justice. If you don’t want to push an heavy lawnmower (and I’d bet it wasn’t too heavy for her) don’t behave like a psycho and terrorize your neighbours. What’s the point of giving out community service if criminals can just say it’s too hard for them? British justice is a total joke. I feel sorry for the neighbours in this case. It must have been awful having to put up with that, and to see so little justice done, is just insulting to them.
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Now everyone knows how to get off from punishment, “I’m not strong enough”.
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