A randy wife has been put behind bars yesterday after allegedly breaking an Asbo banning her from having loud sex. Caroline Cartwright was in custody after being charged with breaking the order – which bans her from making excessive noise three times in ten days.

The couple’s partially deaf neighbour Margery Ball said she had not had a decent night’s sleep in two years because of the noise made by the couple.

Cartwright was taken to court after Environmental Health officers placed recording equipment in the flat next door to her house in Concord, Tyne and Wear. Her neighbour, Rachel O’Connor, pressed a button on the machine every time she was disturbed by noise from next door.

She told the court: “I heard sounds of a sexual nature, they were really loud, and there was a lot of moaning and groaning and screaming as if in pain. It wasn’t just the woman, it came from both parties”.

Miss O’Connor told the court that when she first moved into the flat, in November 2007, the noise started at midnight and lasted until 3am. Now, she said, the noise started at about 6.30am and lasted until 9am.

Environmental Health officer Pamela Spark told the court she had listened to 23 recordings of the couple having sex, saying “There was an excessive screaming female voice on the recordings”.

Mrs Cartwright told the court that she was not “making the noise on purpose” she added, “I can’t understand why people ask me to be quiet. It’s normal to me”.

But the chairman of the magistrates Alan Griffins said “you [Cartwright] were ordered to refrain from screaming and shouting at such levels when engaging in sexual activity with your husband. You could have made efforts to minimise your vocalisation while having sex. You have not shown due respect for other human beings”.