SHEER panic washed over Donna Varley as she tried to make sense of what was unfolding.
When she opened the CCTV app she had installed on her phone her whole body went stiff, watching in horror as her mother fell to the floor.
“Mum’s screams are something I will never forget,” explains Donna.
On the screen of her iPhone, Donna watched in utter disbelief as a kettle of boiling water was thrown over her 68-year-old disabled mother Sue Varley right outside her home – splashing across her face and neck.
Donna, 36, had been fearing an incident like this for 15 years, during which time Sue’s next door neighbour Ina Priestly, 56, had been tormenting Sue, Donna claims.
Now, Donna watched as Priestly poured boiling water over her mum – a horrifying incident which was captured by CCTV Donna installed outside her parents’ home.
Sue suffered third-degree burns to her neck, head and face.
Her sight was only spared because she wore glasses.
In the horrifying attack, the boiling water also narrowly missed the face of Sue’s four-year-old grandson who she was taking to school that morning.
Eight months on from the attack, which has left Sue a “shadow” of her former self, Donna says: “My mum has been left absolutely traumatised.
“She’s terrified to leave the house and for a long time, she couldn’t eat or sleep.
“Any mention of the woman who did this causes her to completely shut down and cry. She isn’t in the best of health anyway. She already couldn’t stand for longer than a few minutes and needs a mobility scooter, after suffering two strokes.
Mum was petrified to sit in her own garden and felt like a prisoner in her home.
Donna
“She is the last person anyone would want to hurt.”
Priestly had moved into the council house adjacent to the home Sue shares with retired husband Stuart, 76, two decades ago.
For the first eight years, they lived peacefully beside each other.
But in 2012 Donna recalls that a fence was erected between their gardens – and this was the start, she says, of the sour relations between them.
“Ina was always fine to start with and she and mum would say ‘hi’ to each other,” Donna says.
“The only single reason I can think of which caused a change was when a fence was put up between their houses.
“Ina claimed Mum’s part of the fence was encroaching on her land but it was land belonging to my mum.
“Mum bought her council house, and had the deeds to prove what she owned.
“Back then, Mum tried to ignore Ina and I hoped it would go away.”
Donna claims Priestly’s “torment” began from this point on and that she caused damage to furniture in her mum’s garden, including a table.
She says: “It was petty at first, but her behaviour became more intimidating as time went on.
“She would hang out the window and yell whenever mum went outside.
“Mum was petrified to sit in her own garden and felt like a prisoner in her home.
“She threw cat faeces on my parents’ drive and also put nails on the driveway, I think to try and pop the tyres on their car.
“Ina never really had an issue with any other neighbours – not even my dad.
“My dad would try his best to ignore her and told mum to do the same.
“Mum loved her house and worked hard as a supervisor of a cleaning business to buy it from the council – but she was living in fear.”
Sue battled health issues including a stroke in 2013, followed by another in 2017.
Donna experienced her own tragedy in 2020 when she lost her eight-month-old son, Kaison, to a rare neurological disorder.
FEELING HELPLESS
Donna, who also has two other children, became extremely worried about the stress her mum was under, made worse by the ongoing situation with her neighbour.
“I moved out in 2023 and into my own flat,” says Donna. “I feared for mum’s safety so I began logging complaints with the council about Ina’s behaviour.
“I called them hundreds of times and I began emailing them. Things would settle down for a time but soon start up again.”
Feeling helpless, Donna set up two CCTV cameras – one at the front of her parents’ house and another at the rear – in July 2024.
She says: “It got to the point where I’d had enough. I felt like she was getting away with more and more.
“I needed proof.
“I hoped it would deter Ina but I think her behaviour actually got worse.
“She accused my mum of ‘spying’ on her – but I put them up as I was worried for her safety.
“Ina put up bright flood lights and baby monitors on her own house, pointing at my parents’ property.
“Mum saw Ina standing and staring at her house, watching her, and she became a nervous wreck. I reported it to the police – I was given crime reference numbers.
“I told them that unless Ina was evicted or moved to a different house, something bad would happen to my mum.
“It was only a matter of time.”
I still have flashbacks to what happened. I see her walking down the street like she’s coming back for me.
Sue
In February this year, seven months after Donna set up the cameras, she received a call from her frantic father at 8am.
He’d heard his wife’s screams and rushed outside to find her laying on the floor, just beside her mobility walker which she used to take her grandson to school.
The four-year-old had been sitting in a seat at the front of the walker.
Instantly calling up the CCTV on her phone Donna was stunned.
“I’m haunted by Mum’s screams, even now. I couldn’t stop shaking,” says Donna.
“When Dad told me it was boiling water I thought he meant a cup of tea – then I saw her coming at Mum with the kettle. Luckily my nephew had his hood up which protected his face.
“I rushed straight to hospital and saw Mum with the police – I was terrified she’d have a heart attack from the shock.”
Sue, a mum-of-three and gran-of-four, was treated for severe burns to her head, face and neck at Leeds General Infirmary and Priestly was arrested.
Donna, a stay at home mum, says: “The next day the swelling went from bad to worse and mum had horrible, painful pus-filled blisters.
“It got so bad that doctors had to scrape the blisters away and apply dressings to prevent infections.
“Hearing her scream as they did it was harrowing.
“The swelling and pain to her face meant she couldn’t wear her hearing aids or her glasses, so she spent months after the attack unable to hear or see properly as she recovered.”
It was because of the CCTV which Donna had installed that Priestly was caught on camera carrying out the chilling act – this evidence was later used to bring the case to court.
In March Priestly, 56, appeared before Leeds Magistrates’ Court where she pleaded not guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded in custody.
She was due to stand trial in August but she changed her plea to guilty on the day.
Priestly was handed a two-year community order, a £114 fine as well as an indefinite restraining order which forbids her from contacting Susan.
‘SHADOW OF HERSELF’
Eight months on, the attack has left Sue a “shadow” of her former self and afraid to leave the house.
Donna says: “I’m disgusted at the sentence – criminals get locked away for much longer for lesser crimes whilst Ina gets to carry on living her life.
“I went to every court hearing and tried to get my views heard because I said time and time again that one day Ina would seriously hurt my mum – but nobody listened.
“Instead, we’ve all been left with the scars of what happened – not just Mum.
“What happens if she does this to someone else? That’s my fear.”
Fuelling Donna’s anger is that Priestly now lives in a house a short walk away from her home, also in Morley, West Yorkshire.
Donna believes she relocated there following the incident.
“We’re constantly on edge and living in fear in case something happens again,” she adds.
Sue says: “I still have flashbacks to what happened. I see her walking down the street like she’s coming back for me.
“I’ve lived in my house for 34 years and I won’t leave.
“I think she could hurt someone else, she should’ve gone to prison.”
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We can confirm complaints of anti-social behaviour were received and were looked into by officers following normal guidelines and policies. One such complaint remains outstanding, so it would be inappropriate to comment further until that process has been completed.”
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “We received a number of reports relating to anti-social behaviour and harassment and all of these were recorded and thoroughly investigated in line with our usual processes, with the victim kept updated throughout.
“We take all reports relating to anti-social behaviour extremely seriously and continue to work with our partners to resolve cases outside of court where appropriate.”
