He is a 77-year-old retired teacher and she is 76 years old.

They have lived next to each other for more than 20 years in a quiet North Yorkshire village on the North York Moors.

But in recent years, they have not been good neighbours.

On December 1, police had to intervene.

Lewis Maxwell Graham, 77, had shouted at the 76-year-old woman to get off his land, pushed her with both hands to her shoulders. She fell backwards suffering serious injuries.

According to defence solicitor Graham Parkin, Lewis Maxwell Graham, 77, and his wife have complained several times to the local authority about their neighbour.

"These incidents are best described as an ongoing neighbour's dispute," he said.

Since he injured her, Graham had "gone out of his way to keep away from the complainant (the woman) and intends to do so going forwards," he said.

In her personal statement, the woman said: "He (Graham) is always in the garden trying to aggravate me,"

She accused Graham of spending Christmas Day grinding stone and building a wall, annoying not only her but other neighbours.

York Crown Court heard that their village is so isolated that following the incident when Graham pushed her over and injured her, the ambulance had taken so long to reach her she had eventually been taken to hospital in another neighbour's car.

She had had surgery on her broken right wrist.

The woman said she could no longer use her right thumb properly and she is right handed. She also suffers ongoing pain in her lower back and pelvis meaning she can not walk properly.

The woman said: "He (Graham) has taken my independence away. I am very concerned about the long term effect of my injuries. He has completely changed my life."

She paid tribute to two other neighbours who had helped her.

She said she couldn't do everyday tasks like opening cans and bottles, cooking, or writing an email and she now couldn't walk properly because she had ongoing lower back pain.

She suffers from flashbacks about the incident on December 1.

Mr Parkin said two years ago,Graham had had a fracture in his spine and still required rehabilitation and medication for it.

Immediately after he had pushed the woman over, he had wanted to help her, but realised that his presence was not wanted and had gone into his house.

He had other issues and was having medical checks for potential dementia.

Find out what a judge had to say about the feud here