La donna ha incendiato la Land Rover del vicino in faide su Badger

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*Harry Goodwin, July 3 2025, The Times*

A woman torched her neighbour’s Land Rover after he cared for badgers whom she blamed for killing a cat, a court was told.

Susan Lupton, 63, set fire to Graham Lee’s Land Rover in a bid to kill the badgers, who were living on his driveway in Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight.

Lupton called Lee, 56, an “evil badger man” and mistakenly believed the animals he cared for had killed a local cat.

Lee, a wildlife volunteer who would leave food out for badgers on his driveway, said the cat had actually died of old age.

On June 20, last year, Lupton lit a plastic container filled with white spirit before sliding it under the car. The arson caused £18,500 worth of damage and destroyed Lee’s Land Rover Freelander.

The flames spread to a neighbouring house, damaging beyond repair a window, toolbox, guttering, cooker extractor and Japanese Maple Tree.

Lee tried to extinguish the fire with a hose pipe before firefighters arrived. He said the badgers had not come back to his property since the arson attack.

Lupton, a writer, who moved to Britain from South Africa in 1980, admitted she was responsible when police arrived. She told officers a firefighter friend had told her how to light the fire.

She has now avoided prison after admitting two counts of arson. She has been banned from the village and ordered to pay costs of £1,000 as well as compensation of £7,835.

Joanna Staples, prosecuting, said Lupton had shared posts on her Facebook page calling Lee an “evil badger man”.

In a victim impact statement, Lee said Lupton was a “sick, twisted and manipulative individual”. He said he checked his security cameras several times a day out of fear that she would launch another attack.

Lee called the destroyed Land Rover his “pride and joy”, saying Lupton’s actions had ruined his life.

He told the court Lupton had posted videos online of herself hurling bricks at the badgers and putting a bowl of food out for them “laced with glass”.

Kavita Hayton, the second neighbour whose property was damaged, said the attack left her in a “state of fear for many months”.

Jonathan Underhill, in mitigation, told the court that Lupton had a single conviction for criminal damage on her record. Lupton had bipolar disorder and 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”. He said Lupton had developed a “fixation” with one of the victims and had become “irrationally obsessed”.
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.

“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 became irrationally obsessed with that and started posting your views on social media.

“You were sectioned after the fire because you were suffering from an episode of mania. It was a terrifying experience for the victims. Extensive damage was done.

“You say you are horrified about what you’ve done. I believe you have a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and that imprisonment would reverse your progress.”

Lupton was handed two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a restraining order to stay away from Lee. She has been banned from the village of Freshwater indefinitely.

“Evil Badger Man” is something I could imagine Matt Berry saying on something lol

At first is was going to side with her, thinking maybe he was a badger baiter or something, but no. It turned out he was the good guy caring for the badgers. 🦡
Crazy cat lady in the end.

Jeez, look at the face on that 🤣 Bulldog chewing a wasp 🤣

Her cat died of old age, but she still blames the badgers, she must be nuts

Badgers?

***Badgers?***

We don’t need no stinking badgers!