UK: Harassment charges against British Indian woman, husband over praying on East Sussex beach dropped

A case against an Indian-origin woman and her husband for performing Hindu prayers with “offensive gestures” on a beach in the UK during an 11-year-row with their neighbours has been dropped.

Sheila Jacklin, who was born to parents from Andhra Pradesh, and her husband Nigel Jacklin, had been barred from looking into the home of Stephane Duckett and his partner in East Sussex. The neighbours said that Sheila was chanting, staring at their property and sticking her fingers up from a beach near to Jacklins’ home, which they claimed was “offensive” and caused distress, according to Daily Mail.

The Jacklins were charged with harassment, but their neighbours argued that chanting and finger-pointing were part of Sheila’s Hindu prayer routine. Separately, Nigel Jacklin, 62, was also charged with assaulting a female friend of their neighbours during an argument outside their home.

The couple appeared before the Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday having pleaded not guilty to harassing their neighbour, following which all charges against them were dropped.

Sheila Jacklin, 61, said the chanting, staring and movement of her fingers were a part of her Sanskrit mantras.

The court turned down the Crown Prosecution Service’s request for an adjournment in the case, which means that the prosecution did not offer any evidence. It told the Jacklins that they were “free to go”.

This is the second time that a harassment case against the Jacklins over Sheila’s Hindu prayers reached the court after a similar trial collapsed in 2019.

Nigel Jacklin, who is a councillor, said it was the fourth time that her wife was being probed for praying on the beach and said it was “an abuse of police power”.

“This should never have gone to court. This is the fourth time my wife has been investigated for praying on the beach. We have been investigated 12 times with no action taken against us in any case. That’s not a series of police mistakes – that is abuse of police power,” he was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.

ABOUT THE DISPUTE 11 YEARS AGO

It all started in 2013 when Stephane Duckett and his partner Norinne Betjemann bought a 120-year-old, disused glass glazing workshop outside the Jacklins’ home. The couple, from London, later converted it into a £400,000 weekend holiday home.

The Jacklins’ filed complaints against their neighbours to authorities over noisy builders, verbal abuse and pollution from their home. But instead, they were “investigated” by the local council and given a “community protection warning letter”.

In July 2023, the Jacklins accused their neighbours of harassment after they claimed that Sheila Jacklin was surrounded by her neighbours who were making a video of him when she tried to pray.

Sheila Jacklin’s husband alleged he was manhandled by a friend of the Ducketts who approached them on the beach, and that he was strangled by her.

“The woman then claimed I bashed her against the fence, kicked her dog and repeatedly headbutted her. When she throttled me, she came at me again and I put my hand out to stop her, that was the only contact we had,” Nigel Jacklin was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

He said the alleged incident was caught on one of the CCTV cameras installed by the Ducketts. He also said he and his wife were planning to leave the place forever.

“My wife’s Hindu faith has helped her get through this. We’ve been there for 30 years and plan to leave here forever,” he said.