'Jesus, Kill Her': Defendant in Witchcraft Trial Thrown Out of Courtroom for Badgering Neighbor She Accused of Being a Witch

A woman who is on trial accused of harassing a mother and her autistic child because she believes they are witches was thrown out of court after shouting "Jesus, kill her" towards her alleged victim.

Born-again Christians Leonora Joseph, 76, and her son Mark Joseph, 56, are accused of orchestrating a campaign of harassment against their neighbor Samantha Ginsberg. They believed she cast a spell against Leonora that had left her paralyzed.

Wimbledon Magistrates Court, in Southwest London, heard how the pair are accused of shouting "death by fire, death to Samantha" towards Ginsberg and playing a Christian TV channel at full volume when she was in the flat upstairs, reports the Daily Mail.

During proceedings, Leonora was thrown out the court following an outburst she made as Ginsberg was giving evidence, as well as repeatedly muttering under her breath the moment Ginsberg entered the room. The Mail reports the 76-year-old shouted, "Jesus kill her," before the judge ordered her to leave.

The incident was also recorded by the Twitter account CourtNewsUK, which live-tweets updates that occur during trials at London courts.

"Mrs Joseph, I gave you two warnings, I said you must not interrupt the witness' evidence," district judge Andrew Sweet told the defendant.

"I will not tolerate you sitting and making comments that are inappropriate." While leaving the court, Leonora Joseph allegedly told Sweet: "God be your judge."

While giving evidence, Ginsberg said there were times that the pair could be heard chanting in the middle of the night as they believed she and her daughter were witches.

"You could hear them getting angrier and angrier," she said.

The court also heard from Prosecutor Robin Simpson, who summed up the case against the mother and son: "In essence [Ginsburg] has a child who suffers from autism and the Josephs believe that child is possessed by witches.

"There has been a course of behavior which involves shouting what can only be described as incantations from the bible against her."

Earlier this year, the court heard Mark accusing Ginsberg of putting a spell on her mother that left her paralyzed.

"In 2016 my mother went through a very serious episode, a life and death episode due to the activities of these people," he said, reported the Metro newspaper.

"We have noticed over a period of time things deteriorating in our living situation. We have never had the difficulties we have had with these neighbors."

Despite admitting there was no diagnosis for what his mother experienced, he added: "I have seen my mother bed-ridden, unable to walk or even to go to the bathroom."

Both Leonora and Mark deny harassment charges. The trial continues.