The mother of Maxine Carr was jailed for six months today for intimidating a witness in the Soham murder trial.
Shirley Capp (61) from Grimsby was found guilty last month of threatening her neighbour Marion Westerman.
Today at Sheffield Crown Court, Judge John Reddihough, said he had no choice but to jail Capp because to do otherwise would be to "send out completely the wrong message".
The jury in the trial heard how Capp threatened Ms Westerman during an argument at her house, which began with a dispute over a cat.
Ms Westerman had told police and eventually an Old Bailey jury that she had seen Maxine Carr and Ian Huntley looking in the boot of a car outside Capp's house shortly after 10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing. She said that Carr was crying.
Today, Judge Reddihough said he was satisfied that Ms Westerman had been frightened by the threats made by Capp and had told a police officer immediately afterwards that she was not going to give evidence in the Soham trial because of them.
The judge said Ms Westerman was "extremely upset and frightened by your threats".
The judge said he had taken into account a psychological report that detailed the trauma Capp had been through since her daughter's arrest in August 2002 and was continuing to feel when the intimidation offence took place on May 13th last year.
PA