A property lawyer found himself fearing for his safety when a woman reportedly threatened him with garden scissors amid a heated boundary dispute in a picturesque village.

The woman at the center of the conflict, 56-year-old Rachel Lawrence, was entangled in an ongoing disagreement with her neighbor, Jed Taylor, who lives next to her 17th-century cottage.

Lawrence’s CCTV cameras allegedly captured Taylor pulling her trash bins from their spot near his home and tossing them onto her front lawn, intensifying the tension between the two.

When lawyer Gary Donaldson paid a visit to Mr. Taylor to discuss the contentious situation, Lawrence confronted him, as recounted in court.

The incident occurred in the serene village of Burton on the Wirral, where Lawrence, who describes herself as a gardening enthusiast, was seen wielding 5.5-inch scissors at head height, mere feet from Donaldson’s face, claiming she had been tending her garden.

In court, it was revealed that Lawrence accused Taylor of being deceitful, telling Donaldson, “You know that you cannot believe a word he says.”

She added: ‘What? Do you think I am going to stab you with a pair of scissors? These are for gardening.’

When Mr Donaldson called police on his mobile, Lawrence went on: ‘They’re on my side. You are wasting their time. 

‘This my road – I can do whatever I want.’

The court heard she tried and failed to grab the lawyer’s device from his hand before storming back to her £400,000 Grade Two listed home, muttering the word ‘c***s’ as she went inside.

Inquiries revealed Lawrence had been in locked in a bitter boundary dispute with Mr Donaldson’s client, Mr Taylor, and she had called police about him on previous occasions.

At Chester magistrates court Lawrence pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article in a public place and to using threatening behaviour. 

She was sentenced to a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay Mr Donaldson £200 compensation.

Afterwards the community volunteer said she had been ‘stupid’ to follow the lawyer while holding the gardening tool.

But she claimed she had only pleaded guilty in order ‘to avoid going to prison.’

‘The victim was a barrister and I was told “Why would a barrister lie”? she told the Daily Mail.

‘I was stuffed.’

She added: ‘The scissors were blunt and I had been using them to clear the mud out from the front the garden. 

‘I had them in my hand but I did not lunge at anybody with them.’

Details of the neighbour dispute were not heard in court.

But according to Lawrence’s elderly mother Dorothy, who shares her cottage, Mr Taylor was ‘obsessed’ with the boundary between their properties.

‘I am disabled pensioner and it was easier for me to park directly outside my house,’ she said. 

‘But he complained that he could see my car from his window.’

They also shared footage of an incident last year in which the folk musician appears to drag their bins from the front of his house and dump them on their lawn.

‘He is an absolute control freak,’ Dorothy alleged.

Her daughter added: ‘I was a community volunteer for Cheshire West Council and now I am a convicted criminal. 

‘I have found refuge in God and silence.’

In response, Mr Taylor told the Mail: ‘In light of the criminal prosecution involving my neighbour I think that it is inappropriate to make any further comment.’

However it is understood he strongly disputes his neighbour’s account of the boundary disagreement.

In a statement to the court, Mr Donaldson, who is based at chambers in Liverpool, said he had to pull out of the case as a result of the incident.

‘I was concerned for my safety and I was scared of being injured,’ he added. 

‘It also also upset me as I was just doing my job.

‘There is no excuse for her actions.’ 

Burton – which dates back to the Domesday Book and has just 715 residents – was once ranked eighth overall in a UK market research survey of so-called ‘super rich’ communities.

Millionaires made up 16 per cent of its tiny population. 

It contains 33 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings.

The incident took place at 5.10pm on September 7 when Mr Donaldson and his instructing solicitor visited Mr Taylor to get details about the dispute.

In his statement Mr Donaldson said Lawrence began to ‘follow’ them as they walked outside the house.

‘I immediately noticed a large pair of scissors she has in her right hand with the blade was pointing through the top of her fist,’ he added.

‘I said “Put them down” but she made no reaction and continued to come towards us. 

‘She came within approximately one metre of us and I thought, “S***, what is she going to do?” 

‘I felt trapped.‘

He asked her again to put the scissors down, which she did.

But the court heard Lawrence then asked: ‘What do you think I am going to do, stab you with a pair of scissors? 

‘These are for gardening.’

‘I told her I was going to call police to which she replied they were on her “side”,’ he continued. 

According to the lawyer she added: ‘You should not call the police. You are wasting their time.’

Mr Donaldson said he told her to put the scissors down but that Lawrence said: ‘This my road, I can do whatever I want.’ 

‘She lunged at me with both hands,’ he went on. 

‘This was the most frightening part. 

‘I remember feeling fear of being stabbed or injured whilst I simply carried out my day job.’

Lawrence then unsuccessfully attempted to take his phone from him before walking back to her house, swearing at them, he said. 

Earlier Chelsea Keans, prosecuting, said Mr Donaldson had been ‘put in fear of his life’. 

In mitigation for Lawrence, lawyer Stevie Bate said: ‘This is totally out of character for her and it ultimately comes down to ongoing issues she has been having with her neighbour, going on for a number of years.‘

Her client had seen people ‘pointing’ at her house, she said, and felt they had been ‘rude’ to her elderly mother, who was walking past at the time.   

‘Shortly after she went out to tend to some weeding in the area and saw the men walking away towards their cars,’ Ms Bate added.

Lawrence didn’t realise they were lawyers but felt ‘a little bit wound up’ and wanted a ‘discussion’ with them, the solicitor told the court.

Ms Bate said Lawrence was not brandishing the scissors but just ‘waving them about’ as she talked. 

‘She acknowledges that would have been scary to say the least – but she has not walked out with the intention to make threats.’

But sentencing Lawrence, JP Jean Banford told her: ‘Try reversing this around. 

‘You are walking along the pavement and someone else came up with a pair of scissors. This was extremely serious.

‘In no way were you going out to weed with a pair of scissors when you had just seen those two people. 

‘I do not believe a word of it.’

Magistrates also ordered Lawrence to pay £272 in costs and a surcharge.