A couple tormented by a hellish neighbour for more than two years have revealed how their first shared home became a ‘living nightmare’. (Image: SWNS)
A couple tormented by a hellish neighbour for more than two years have revealed how their first shared home became a ‘living nightmare’. Drina Gray subjected victims Ben Stanley, 32, and Emma Williams, 31, to relentless harassment “morning, noon and night” in a sustained campaign of terror.
The 52 year old destroyed two Ring doorbells within 12 months, delivered regular menacing threats through cameras and deliberately allowed her dog to soil their doorstep. Ben and Emma had been together for just six months when they decided to move in – dreaming of creating a home with hopes of eventually starting a family.
Yet once council tenant Gray relocated to the flat beneath them, their peaceful domestic aspirations were quickly shattered. The pair claim they couldn’t enjoy reading, watching television or even getting a proper night’s sleep due to their neighbour’s erratic behaviour. The troublesome resident has now been imprisoned after pleading guilty to harassment with intent to cause fear of violence, two counts of criminal damage and a public order offence involving threatening language and conduct.
She received a 40-month sentence at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday 25 June, with the judge stating she had made the couple’s existence “hell”. Ben admits the exhausting battle for justice has left him with “little faith” in the local council, police force and legal system. However, despite feeling “abandoned” by officials, the couple are relieved their tormentor is finally incarcerated. Ben remarked: “It’s kind of bittersweet, in a sense.
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A couple tormented by a hellish neighbour for more than two years have revealed how their first shared home became a ‘living nightmare’. (Image: SWNS)
“It has taken so long to get here, but now we are here, it has all been worth it. It was a really insane time. It took an awful lot of resilience and courage to keep going. It kept getting adjourned and you lose hope in the courts and the police. But we carried on and she has got the sentence she deserves.”
Ben acquired his first flat in Wandsworth, southwest London, in 2022. However, when council tenant Gray moved into the flat below in April, Ben’s world was turned on its head. Following his complaint about her mistreating her dog, Gray embarked on a “relentless” vendetta that left Ben and his partner feeling trapped in their own home. Over the ensuing months, Gray destroyed their Ring doorbells, frequently issued threats, and left dog faeces at their front door.
Product manager Ben claims he even lost his job at a start-up due to sleep deprivation caused by Gray playing loud music and vacuuming the communal hallway during the early hours. Numerous unsettling videos recorded by Ben’s cameras depict Gray yelling, cursing, and menacing him. Emma, who is employed in marketing, expressed that despite Gray turning their cohabitation into a trial, she felt ‘proud’ that they had emerged stronger as a couple.
Drina Gray subjected victims Ben Stanley, 32, and Emma Williams, 31, to relentless harassment “morning, noon and night” in a sustained campaign of terror. (Image: SWNS)
“We had been together six months when I moved in,” she recounted. “I had spent a long time looking for someone special. I was so excited to live with Ben. It was going to be our first home together and we want to have a family. But it just turned into what was literally a living hell. It was really testing on our relationship, but I am really proud we have not taken it out on each other.”
Emma revealed Gray developed an intense dislike towards her upon moving in, as her partner represented one of the few people she maintained contact with. “I use the word obsession because it was that level,” she said. “Drina would always make a point of calling me the wrong name. She was so manipulative. Ben was the only one who gave her the time of day. I think she thought I was a threat to that. She would text really inappropriate things to Ben, like ‘you have really nice eyes – but don’t tell your girlfriend I said that’ and ‘why don’t you take me on holiday?’. It was always directed at Ben. I think she was annoyed that I was there.”
The pair lived in such terror of Gray – who regularly issued death threats through their cameras and had prior convictions for violence – that they kept a baseball bat beside the front door. Emma reveals she was too frightened to remain home alone with Gray, refusing to venture outside by herself. “If I knew she was there, I wouldn’t want to go outside,” she said. “I would change plans or ask Ben to come home before I went out. We really were trapped.
Ben and Emma were at their wits’ end with the incessant noise from their neighbour’s flat (Image: SWNS)
“She would sit on the stairs and hurl abuse at me, not letting me past.” Ben and Emma were at their wits’ end with the incessant noise from their neighbour’s flat, where the sound of blaring music made daily life unbearable. “You couldn’t hear the TV. She would have her music on full volume. It was always the same songs. I couldn’t read a book. I couldn’t work from home, because you would hear her music or her screaming things or the dog barking.
“I couldn’t do anything – it was impossible to concentrate.” The couple highlighted that it wasn’t just the noise but the psychological toll that was the hardest to endure. Ben confessed: “What people don’t really understand is the psychological and emotional impact it has on you. For me, that’s far worse than anything physical.” He even told the police in desperation: “I told the police I would rather she punched or stabbed me, so they would arrest her.
“Trying to sit down and watch TV and music starts blaring… at work, my Ring doorbell notification would be going off. We want to move on and move forward. We just want to do what everybody else can do but takes for granted at home.” Emma, despite everything, retained a sliver of empathy for their tormentor, Gray. However, a letter Gray wrote suggesting Emma was ‘jealous’ of her relationship struck a nerve.
“We have endured two and a half years of abuse from Drina, and that’s likely the time she will serve in jail,” Ben remarked. (Image: SWNS)
“When you say what she did in her letter, you’re just a nasty person,” Emma remarked. “I think she enjoys pressing people’s buttons. I think it just became a game for her.” Their ordeal with Gray dragged on through the courts, with hearings postponed at least six times until she was eventually sentenced to jail on Wednesday 25 June. In a heart-wrenching victim impact statement, Ben conveyed to the court how Gray’s relentless abuse left him feeling “embarrassed, humiliated, numb” and even driven to thoughts of suicide.
With Gray now sentenced to 40 months behind bars, the couple express their relief and eagerness to move forward with their lives. “We have endured two and a half years of abuse from Drina, and that’s likely the time she will serve in jail,” Ben remarked. “It was right not to suspend the jail term. I think it was a harsh penalty, but one that is deserved. I was really happy with the outcome. Will it change her? I don’t know. But if it discourages her from doing it again, then that’s a win.”
Emma chimed in: “Sometimes, we sit in silence and we are like ‘this is so nice – we don’t need to call any lawyers or the council or anyone’.
“It has been a challenging start to our relationship, but, hopefully it gets better from here.”