Two neighbors from hell face having to leave their home after a sheriff banned them from their own street for waging a hate campaign.

David Aston, 56, and his wife Jacqueline, 58, spent three years making malicious allegations against their neighbors, falsely accusing them of child abuse and drug dealing.

The two men attempted to ruin the careers of those who lived around them, filmed them almost daily and made poisonous allegations to police and local authorities.

Sheriff John Cook banned them from the streets of North Berwick, East Lothian.

He told the Astons, who bought their house in 2018 for £421,995, that their behavior had caused their neighbors “very serious distress and significant psychological harm”.

David and Jacqueline Aston waged a malicious hate campaign against their neighbors

The Astons are to leave their home above center in North Berwick, East Lothian

They must not return to the street or contact their neighbors for 15 years and must be out by January 31 at the latest.

They must also pay four neighbors a total of £10,000 in compensation.

The victims told the trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court that their ordeal had been “hell”.

Ms Aston reported Catriona Henderson to the General Teaching Council for Scotland in a bid to destroy her career.

Former nurse Ms Aston claimed Ms Henderson used drugs, including laughing gas and crystal meth, and neglected the children.

His partner Stuart McMorris was also targeted.

The Astons installed three security cameras to monitor the couple’s property.

They confronted them about delivery drivers bringing goods to their homes, yelled at the drivers and photographed the vans.

False reports were made by the Astons to a mortgage company and East Lothian Council, claiming the pair were running a home business and engaging in fraud.

Neighbor Marie Bain, 67, said they had made her life “a misery” as she was recorded “almost daily”. Her husband, Robert, 64, called the “constant surveillance” “harassment”.

The engineer said: “It’s been horrible. We moved to North Berwick to our dream home to retire, but the dream turned into a nightmare.

The Astons said the neighbors “didn’t like us” and made up the allegations to get them to move out.

They were found guilty of engaging in behavior that caused fear and concern among three neighbors between October 2018 and October 2021.

At their sentencing yesterday, Nicola Haston, defending Ms Aston, said her client’s care home employers had sacked her after learning of her conviction.

The lawyer said: “Ms Aston reflected what was said at the trial and she now accepts that her behavior may have been worrying to her neighbors.”

Neighbors Catriona Henderson and Stuart McMorris

Ms Aston was also found guilty of assaulting Marie Bain by hitting her with a bin in January 2023 and breaching bail conditions.

She must carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and pay £8,000 to Ms Henderson, Mr McMorris and Bains.

Her husband was placed under supervision for three years and must pay £2,000 to Ms Henderson and Mr McMorris.

He was also tagged and must not go out at night for eight months.

Mark Harrower, for Mr Aston, said his client suffered a serious brain injury and stroke in a car crash ten years ago, leaving him with a “permanent and lifelong” impairment.

The non-harassment orders, valid for 15 years, ban them from contacting six neighbors and being on the street after January 31.