An animal lover has been banned from feeding the birds after scraps of raw meat she left out to attract wildlife triggered a series of rat infestations.
Jennifer Bagram, 65, placed meat, bird food and nuts in open spaces, alleyways and under trees near her home and in the back gardens of her neighbours.
Despairing locals in Wanstead were forced to install anti-bird spikes to protect their properties from damage by flocks of pigeons, while families of foxes dug up their gardens.
Bagram was served with a community protection notice by Redbridge council in 2016 following complaints about her behaviour and claims that she verbally abused people who challenged her.
She was taken to court last month after being caught on CCTV repeatedly flouting the order. A neighbour said: “We’ve had pigeons, seagulls, rats, foxes, everything … it’s been incessant.
“She has been plaguing the neighbourhood for years.” Another local, who moved in last week, said: “The bloke who I exchanged with said she was very nice but would be out in the street at 3am feeding birds when he came home from clubbing.”
Bagram, of Grosvenor Road, pleaded guilty at Barkingside magistrates’ court last week to breaching a total of six community protection notices issued by the council.
She was fined £600 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.An indefinite criminal behaviour order now bans her from putting out food anywhere in the borough or abusing anyone who has reported her anti-social behaviour.
A breach of the new order could lead to an increased fine or prison.
Bagram, who has lived alone in her ground-floor flat for 30 years following the death of her mother, claimed the neighbours’ complaints were a “witch hunt”.
She said today: “My mum used to take me as a little girl to feed pigeons in the park and she always told me to ‘do one nice thing every day’.
“Feeding birds makes me feel closer to her, it’s in my DNA. I understand about the birds causing problems for people but there has been so much character-bashing of me. I’ve never been aggressive to anyone, I just stand up for myself.
“I wish my neighbours had just come to speak to me. I’ve never hurt anyone and now I’ve been treated like a criminal.”
Councillor John Howard said: “It’s not fair for people to be suffering because of her persistent anti-social behaviour and she left us with no option but to take court action.”
But one neighbour was more sympathetic and said: “Everyone’s different … she’s definitely an eccentric and she just loves animals.”
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