Mary O’Neill complained that she had received a friend request from her neighbour Peter Malcouronne, even though she is subject to a restraining order banning her from contact with him.

Lawyers for Mr Malcouronne insisted in court that their client has no knowledge of a Facebook friend request but might have “accidentally pressed the wrong button”.

The neighbours in Napier, New Zealand have been in and out of court ever since Mr Malcouronne and his family moved into their home in 2018, stuff reports.

At one point, both had restraining orders in place against the other, but the restraining order against Mr Malcouronne was lifted in 2019 after a judge said Ms O’Neill was “the indisputable and relentless harasser”.