'Year of hell' for mother charged after retrieving ball

Susannah Marmot, 42, was accused of attacking neighbour, George Louka, after going to get her son's ball back from his garden.

But a jury took just half an hour to clear Mrs Marmot after a three-day trial at the Old Bailey that cost the taxpayer more than £100,000.

The recorder, Rosamund Horwood-Smart QC, lambasted the Crown Prosecution Service for pursuing the case, saying it had "failed lamentably" and ordered it to pay the £14,600 costs of Mrs Marmot's defence.

Mrs Marmot today accused the CPS of "ineptitude" and described her ordeal - which included spending seven hours in a police cell - as "the worst year of my life".

The row erupted in October last year in St Margaret's Road, a quiet suburban street in Edgware. Mr Louka had confiscated a ball belonging to Mrs Marmot's son Joel, 11, after it rolled into his garden and the housewife went around to retrieve it.

When Mrs Marmot went to retrieve it, she said Mr Louka went into a rage, rugby tackled her and tried to jump on her back. But Mr Louka, a dustman, claimed she pushed him into a doorframe causing a cut to his face which needed 10 stitches.

He was described as an "Alf Garnett" figure who was known in the area for shouting obscenities at neighbours and repeatedly calling police to make allegations about them. But when police arrived they believed Mr Louka's version of events and arrested Mrs Marmot. She was later charged with causing actual bodily harm.

Although two judges urged the CPS to reconsider the case against her, Mrs Marmot still endured "12 months of horror" during which she feared she would be convicted.

She said: "It was the most horrendous experience. I was in shock and was shivering in the cells. It has been the worst year of my life. I have been in a state of shock for the whole of this year of torment. Our children really suffered. It took a long time for us to make it clear to them that mummy wasn't going to go to prison."

Her husband Joshua, 41, who runs a packaging business, today described the CPS's case against his wife as "woefully inappropriate". He said: "It's been like a bad dream for us. There have been lots of tears." A CPS spokesman said: "The CPS concluded there was sufficient evidence to authorise a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Mrs Marmot and it was in the public interest to do so owing to the severity of the injuries suffered by the victim."

He said the CPS is seeking advice as to whether to appeal the judge's decision to award costs to the Marmots.