Mary Plaisted, 98, to be thrown out of Southampton home

A judge yesterday gave Mary Plaisted 28 days to get out of the sheltered housing flat she has lived in for the past 28 years.

The pensioner will become the oldest person ever thrown out of her accommodation by Southampton City Council, after making the lives of her elderly neighbours a misery.

The authority said it was left with “no alternative” after claiming she had assaulted carers and council staff, harassed neighbours, endangered the lives of others by using her community alarm 563 times in a month, and made 264 calls to police in two years.

At Southampton County Court, District Judge Robert Naylor approved the council’s application to throw out Mrs Plaisted, after hearing she had been assessed as “mentally capable”.

Mrs Plaisted last night told the Daily Echo she fears what will happen to her if she is forced from her £65-a-week Lordshill flat, and insists she is an innocent victim.

“I didn’t attack anybody, and I’ve only asked for help when I’ve needed it,” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong that I’m aware of and I don’t know why they’re after me. I can’t understand it.

“I’m very worried because I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ve got nowhere to go.”

Chris Perry, director of Age Concern Hampshire, said he is concerned at the prospect of such an elderly woman being thrown out of her home.

“At the end of the day, they can’t turf someone out on the street at 98 years of age – they still have a responsibility to her,” he said.

“It’s going to be a very difficult eviction to push through. I’ve never heard of anyone that old being evicted before.”

The council’s housing management chief, Nick Cross, said the authority would now be discussing “a number of options” with Mrs Plaisted in a bid to help find her somewhere else to live.

“It is very regrettable when any action is taken by the council to repossess a property, particularly when the individual is very elderly,” he said.

“However, the council is left with no alternative when antisocial behaviour by one tenant leads to other residents’ lives being made a misery.

“In such cases we will act for the due regard of other tenants whilst balancing this with the need to act responsibly for the needs of the individual.”

Neighbours welcomed the decision.

“We can hopefully get our lives back now, because for the last three or four years we just haven’t had a life,”

said one elderly resident, who asked not to be named.

“I would think this will be well received by everyone, because it’s been that bad.

“Just this weekend we had to call the police because she started shouting and banging her door at around two in the morning.

“We’ve some people up here who are at risk, and it’s not fair on her or us.”

Mrs Plaisted’s son, Nigel Plaisted, 65, who lives in Somerset, has previously told the Daily Echo he supported the council’s action against his mother, who he described as “belligerent”.

He was not available for comment last night.

The catalogue of complaints against Mary Plaisted included

• Assaulting council staff and carers by hitting them with her walking stick, punching them and throwing objects at them, as well as using obscene language towards them.

• Threatening those who came to her property, including the emergency services, who will now only visit in pairs because of the risk of assault.

• Calling the emergency services for no reason – she phoned police 264 times in two years.

• Endangering others by using her community alarm service without reason – she used the emergency call-out 563 times in just one month.

• Repeatedly banging on residents’ cars and windows with her stick, demanding attention, and accosting neighbours for no reason.

• Shouting and screaming in communal areas and demanding that others call 999 because of non-existent emergencies.

• Accusing so many carers of theft that many will no longer visit the property.