A furious homeowner torched her neighbour’s Land Rover after mistakenly believing some badgers he was caring for killed a cat.
Susan Lupton, 63, set fire to and destroyed wild-loving Graham Lee’s Freelander in a callous attempt to kill badgers living on his driveway.
Lupton branded the 56-year-old an ‘evil badger man’ and mistakenly believed the animals he cared for had killed another neighbour’s pet cat.
But Mr Lee, a wildlife volunteer, who would leave food out for badgers on his driveway in idyllic coastal village Freshwater Bay, on the Isle of Wight, said the moggy had actually died of old age.
When police arrived, Lupton, who has bipolar disorder and was experiencing an episode of mania, told officers: ‘I did it. I’m responsible.’
Lupton’s arson caused £18,500 worth of damage and Mr Lee’s Freelander was completely ruined by the blaze.
Someone else’s property was also damaged as the flames spread to a neighbouring house.
Lupton, a writer, has now been banned from the village but avoided prison after admitting two counts of arson.
Graham Lee’s Land Rover Freelander was completely destroyed after it was set fire to on his driveway
Susan Lupton, 63, had torched the car after mistakenly believing some badgers the wildlife-loving neighbour was caring for had killed a local cat
Mr Lee, a wildlife volunteer, who would leave food out for badgers on his driveway in idyllic coastal village Freshwater Bay, on the Isle of Wight, said the moggy had actually died of old age
Isle of Wight Crown Court was told Lupton set fire to Mr Lee’s 4×4 on June 20, 2024, on a road in Freshwater Bay where homes average £400,000.
Prosecutor Joanna Staples said Lupton set fire to a plastic container filled with white spirit and slid it under the Land Rover Freelander.
The 4×4 was completely gutted by the fire, and someone else’s property was also destroyed as the flames spread to a neighbouring house in Freshwater, Isle of Wight.
A window, toolbox, guttering, cooker extractor and a Japanese Maple Tree at a neighbouring property were all damaged beyond repair.
Mr Lee tried to extinguish the blaze with a hosepipe before firefighters arrived.
He said the badgers have not come back to his property since the incident a year ago.
Lupton, who moved to the UK from South Africa in 1980, admitted she was responsible when police arrived.
She told them at an interview that she started the fire as an attempt to kill some badgers he was looking after which she believed had killed a cat owned by a local homeowner.
Lupton claimed that a firefighter friend had told her how to start the blaze.
Ms Staples said that Lupton had shared posts on her Facebook page claiming that the car owner was an ‘evil badger man’.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Lee said Lupton was a ‘sick, twisted and manipulative individual’ who had left him checking his security cameras numerous times a day out of a fear that she may turn up on his driveway with some matches.
Mr Lee’s wrecked Land Rover. The wildlife volunteer, from the Isle of Wight, tried to extinguish the blaze with a hosepipe before firefighters arrived
Mr Lee said the badgers have not come back to his property since the incident a year ago
Mr Lee also described the loss of his ‘pride and joy’ Land Rover as ‘beyond words’ and said Lupton’s actions had ruined his life.
He told the court Lupton had posted videos online of her hurling bricks at badgers and putting out a bowl of food ‘laced with glass’.
Neighbour Kavita Hayton’s home was also damaged in the blaze. She said the attack had left her ‘genuinely frightened’ and in a ‘state of fear for many months’.
Lupton’s barrister Jonathan Underhill told the court that Lupton had a single conviction for criminal damage on her record.
She had bipolar disorder and Mr Underhill asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence to help her ongoing rehabilitation.
Judge James Newton-Price said that the victims in the case had suffered a ‘terrifying experience’ and that Lupton had developed a ‘fixation’ with one of the victims and had became ‘irrationally obsessed’.
When sentencing, the judge told Lupton: ‘You didn’t like Mr Lee attracting badgers to the area, for reasons of your own.
‘You had been harassing him online, calling him “Evil Badger Man” on Facebook.’
The judge continued: ‘You were sectioned after the fire because you were suffering from an episode of mania.
Pictured here are some of the rescued badgers that Mr Lee had cared for. Lupton had branded him an ‘evil badger man’
‘Extensive damage was done. It was a terrifying experience for the victims. You, living nearby, watched the terrifying incident and told an officer, “I did it. I’m responsible”.
‘You said you did it because a badger killed a neighbour’s cat. You said a firefighter friend explained how to start the fire.
‘You developed a fixation on Mr Lee, him feeding badgers and believing they killed a neighbour’s cat.
‘You became irrationally obsessed with that and started posting your views on social media.’
The judge added: ‘You say you are horrified for what you’ve done. I believe you have a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and that imprisonment would reverse your progress.’
Lupton was ordered to pay costs of £1,000 and compensation of £7,835.
Lupton was handed two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a restraining order to stay away from Mr Lee.
Lupton has also been banned from the village of Freshwater indefinitely.
