Magistrates imposed a restraining order on a widow who launched an ink attack on best-selling crime writer Val McDermid after she wrote about her husband’s murder in a book.
Sandra Botham, 64, whose husband George was shot dead on the doorstep, had nursed a grievance against the Scottish-born writer ever since the book’s publication in 1994, a court heard.
She claimed Ms McDermid had got her facts wrong and caused tremendous upset to her family so when the author visited the Sunderland University last December, she sought her revenge at a book signing.
Disguised in a blonde wig and a hat, she asked Ms McDermid to sign a copy of A Suitable Job for a Woman, which mentioned the murder, then threw ink at her and called her “the female equivalent of Jimmy Savile” before running off.
She was found guilty of common assault at an earlier hearing before Sunderland magistrates and should have been sentenced on July 31 but failed to appear in court.
A warrant was issued for her arrest and when she was finally brought before magistrates on Friday, she told them: “This is a kangaroo court. I’m sick of it and I’m going to turn my back on you all.”
She was taken down to the cells and sentenced in her absence.
In addition to the restraining order, magistrates imposed a 12-month community order with supervision and ordered her to pay £50 compensation and a £60 victim surcharge.
Christopher Wilson, mitigating for Botham, said: “When she was presented with the book, which includes a whole chapter about her, she felt upset and confused.
“She made a rash decision and was only trying to protect her family against allegations which were untrue and factually incorrect. The greatest concern to her was the part about her late husband, who was shot to death.
“She wanted to protect her children from the awful details of his murder, but the book being published brought it all back.”
He added: “It isn’t a pleasant chapter it’s historic and many things should be left in the past. The whole thing has played heavily on her mind and caused great stress.”
He asked that she be excused for failing to turn up at a previous hearing due to her age and health problems.
Botham, of Ridley Terrace, Hendon, Sunderland, exercised her right to be sentenced from her cell following her court room outburst but chairman of the bench Craig Tuthill said: “What I would have been saying to Botham is that we recognise there is some deep seated emotional vendetta.
“She may feel aggrieved but obviously her actions are not going to resolve any dispute.”