A 61-year-old Kirkcaldy woman who thought her house was haunted by hellhounds left her 74-year-old sister unconscious after a bust-up.
Isobel Arnott had told her sister Jean Littlejohn, a former medium, her Alford Avenue home was haunted by spooks.
At Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday, victim Mrs Littlejohn revealed that her sister had complained she had seen “her dog turning into a beast and growling at her”, “black hair appearing in her dog’s water bowl” and the “waterbowl moving” in her home.
When she visited Arnott with their other sister, Jacqueline Salmond, the meeting descended into chaos which resulted in Arnott kicking, punching and pushing her older sister.
Mrs Littlejohn told the court they had visited Arnott as they were concerned about her mental health.
She said: “My sister told me her house was haunted. She said there were lots of spooks in her house.”
Mrs Salmond stated: “Jean suggested Isobel go to a doctor as she couldn’t sleep, talking about ghosts and evil spirits.”
She claimed that the mood changed when a friend of Arnott’s arrived.
She continued: “There was no aggressiveness until this other person arrived. I think they were wanting to talk about ghosts in private.
“Isobel got a bit hysterical, shouting like a mad woman and screaming at the top of her voice, ‘I want youse out’. She was totally out of character, like a lunatic.”
Sheriff Alastair Thornton heard Arnott punched Mrs Littlejohn on the arm and grabbed her. Mrs Littlejohn slapped Arnott to get her to release her hold, before Arnott began kicking out at her sister.
She then shoved her, sending her across the living room, crashing into a coffee table. She fell and hit her head on a second table and was knocked unconscious.
Mrs Littlejohn said: “I was flat out on the other side of the room and out for the count.”
Sheriff Thornton found Arnott guilty of, on July 24 at an address in Alford Avenue, assaulting Jean Littlejohn by punching, pushing and kicking her on the body, all to her injury.
Sentence was deferred until February for reports.