TRUE-LIFE
When our evil neighbour attacked, my Shane had one last request
Laura Sugden, 34, Driffield
Dabbing my eyes, I found a bouquet on my desk.
The tag read: Missing you already… And that’s when the tears really started.
It was August 2016 and I’d been with my boyfriend Shane Gilmer, then 28, a year after meeting at our council housing job.
Now living together in Driffield, East Yorkshire, everyone joked we were glued at the hip.
We worked together and lived together.
Even ate off paper plates at weekends to minimise washing up and maximise cuddling time!
But now Shane had moved to a different office for six months, and even though I’d see him at home, I was pining.
Still, looking at the flowers, I felt a warm glow.
I’d never known a love like ours before.
Shane had two children from a past relationship, and he doted on my daughter, Isabelle, then 3.
We’d even bought a baby tortoise, Otis, who Shane loved looking after.
In a happy bubble, only, our oddball next-door neighbour, Tony Lawrence,
6 then 53, gave me the creeps. He was rude, plus we’d noticed a smell wafting from his house through the fireplace in Isabelle’s room.
‘Cannabis plants?’
I sniffed to Shane.
Not wanting an argument, we didn’t complain.
Late one night in January 2017, deafening music blasted through the walls.
‘I’ll ask him to turn it off,’ Shane said.
He rapped lightly on Tony’s window as I poked my head out the back door.
Suddenly, Tony lurched into his garden. He was swinging an axe. ‘I’ll f***ing kill you both!’ he yelled as we hurried inside and locked the doors.
We logged the incident with police, but we didn’t hear about him being interviewed or charged.
We just stayed out of Tony’s way as best we could.
In November 2017, I discovered I was pregnant.
‘It’s a girl, I just know it,’
Shane beamed.
We chose a name, Ella. Meanwhile, the cannabis stench from next door was getting worse and Isabelle was up all night, coughing.
I kept calling the police, who didn’t seem interested.
Shane fell to the floor, blood gushing from his side
So I contacted the letting agent responsible for both our homes.
‘We’ll do an inspection,’ they said. ‘Tony won’t suspect you’ve complained.’
Tony was served with an eviction notice, told to leave by the end of January 2018. Such a relief.
On 12 January, Shane and I went on a date night while Isabelle was with her dad. By now, I was 19 weeks pregnant and we were going for a scan the next day to find out the sex.
Over dinner, we talked excitedly about how our lives were goin
