Legal advise please.. help!

[Tengu]

Having trained in security I can say that in this country the idea of self defence is a pretty deep rabbit hole...Maybe elsewhere but not here.

I was always told not to do it.

I would like to suggest the CAB but I have never had much luck with them.

The police take hate crime very seriously these days, and if you are some sort of minority...

 

[Woody girl]

I have just had the police round. They have told me there is no evidence of a criminal offence. My witnesses have it seems told them they didn't hear what was said and rang me just before the police arrived to tell me they were going to Wales for a week. They were reluctant to discuss how their interview with the police went when I asked and seemed in a great hurry to get away. Friends of 18 yrs. ??????

 

[dwardo]

Get out, I understand moving is a complete nightmare but is it more so than the one you are living now?

What other options are there? If the guy has half a brain he can keep the police and HA happy or atleast happy enough to stay out of any serious trouble.

So with that in mind you are left with a kicking but as you said that's out of the question and in 99% of cases doesn't work and only makes the the ejit a "Victim".

If he wont leave then you should do, if not for your mental health then his physical health. Bloody awful situation with only one real way out, fare or not.

 

[santaman2000]

In English law there is an individual's right to self defence; the victim is in theory allowed to use reasonable force proportionate to the perceived threat. Meaning that if you believe that your attacker intends to kill you, you may kill your attacker.


You might have a great deal of proving that, though, and end up spending quite a bit of time in pre-trial custody.

Edit to add: a big difference, though, is that in England, the law does not allow you to carry an kind of weapon in preparation against an attacker. So no carrying a gun, cosh, dagger, or whatever.

But if you're in the garden, it would be quite normal to be holding a shovel or a spade or a garden fork... Though I think a trident and a net might not be considered normal.

Hence my comment, too bad it wasn’t “here.” Other than your prohibitions on carrying defensive weapons, your post indicates there’s also a difference in what’s considered “deadly” force. The intent (on the part of the aggressor) to kill definitely fits the fills the requirement but so does the intent to commit “serious bodily injury.”

 

[santaman2000]

Hi Woody girl, sorry to hear that you're suffering abuse by such a lunatic!! I read all of the above comments and understand that you don't want a "physical" solution to the problem. Seems to me that the gopro idea (with a remote control and external microphone) was the best idea in helping to get evidence. If it was me, I'd make sure (large framed) male friends are invited to keep you company which would also mean you've got witnesses. Ok, it'd cost you loads of cups of tea. Hang in there girl and stay strong!!

Eventually either she will move as Dwardo suggests, or it will turn physical. Bullying is progressive. He may be the first to get physical, or the police might. But it will happen if she remains.

 

[Woody girl]

Eventually either she will move as Dwardo suggests, or it will turn physical. Bullying is progressive. He may be the first to get physical, or the police might. But it will happen if she remains.

It's has already been physical but he got away with it by lying and getting others to lie for him. I was the one arrested for assault and dragged of in handcuffs. I won my case but he was never arrested and charged himself. He has also tried to squash me up against a wall with his car.
. Onice again got off without charge or arrest. He's an accomplished liar and works as a care assistant believe it or not.
I have been to see a solicitor I know. Though they do not deal with this sort of thing themselves told me that two harrasment should result in arrest. Police keep telling me that thered is not enough evidence to do this
Wonder if he has connectionsome as all police officers who attend seem to just keep saying the same thing to me.

 

[tankie]

Hard evidence is what you need cameras and witness statements are the way to go as this acts a good lever to make the police more proactive

 

[santaman2000]

It's has already been physical but he got away with it by lying and getting others to lie for him. I was the one arrested for assault and dragged of in handcuffs. I won my case but he was never arrested and charged himself. He has also tried to squash me up against a wall with his car.
. Onice again got off without charge or arrest. He's an accomplished liar and works as a care assistant believe it or not.
I have been to see a solicitor I know. Though they do not deal with this sort of thing themselves told me that two harrasment should result in arrest. Police keep telling me that thered is not enough evidence to do this
Wonder if he has connectionsome as all police officers who attend seem to just keep saying the same thing to me.

Possibly they have heard of you being the one arrested and they’re less believing of your complaints. Sad but often the first opinions, however erroneous, tend to take on a momentum. If that’s the case then moving is indeed your best course.

All that said. Do you have documentation of your complaints to the police; and is there an agency to report their inaction too? Go over the local police’s heads as it were?

 

[Woody girl]

I'm gonna fight this one all the way no matter how many brick walls I come up against. A battle is only lost if you don't fight. I've stood at greenham for the likes of these baby coppers safety in their lives. Perhaps that's the problem. They don't like the fact that eventualy we won. That has stayed with me all my life. Never give up on truth and right or you are on the slippery slope to indifference and sleepwalking into hell on earth.
I was supposed to be in London Sunday instead I'm at home trying to deal with this pratt. And the fall out of his actions.
I went to police station to try and ask for the coppers numbers from this morning as I forgot to take them. They wouldn't answer the buzzer. So I hid myself behind the cars they thought I'd gone half an hour later one came out realy shocked to see me and I demanded their numbers. He said he was in a hurry (getting into his car to go home.. not a dee dah) and couldn't do it so I stood in front of his car and refused to move untill he gave me the numbers. Persistence will win. I got the numbers will double check them tomorrow. If he's fobbed me off complaint will go into chief honcho! I'm in a stubborn fighting mood now. I will win or die trying.!

 

[Janne]

London is boring on a Sunday.....

Why did you want to go, mingle with all the Scandinavian weekend tourists?

 

[Woody girl]

London is boring on a Sunday.....

Why did you want to go, mingle with all the Scandinavian weekend tourists?

Two Words
Extinction Rebellion

 

[Janne]

Aha.

I support our Blue Iguana Project with a bit of funding. We need to do what we have to do!

 

[rich d2]

I'm gonna fight this one all the way no matter how many brick walls I come up against. A battle is only lost if you don't fight. I've stood at greenham for the likes of these baby coppers safety in their lives. Perhaps that's the problem. They don't like the fact that eventualy we won. That has stayed with me all my life. Never give up on truth and right or you are on the slippery slope to indifference and sleepwalking into hell on earth.
I was supposed to be in London Sunday instead I'm at home trying to deal with this pratt. And the fall out of his actions.
I went to police station to try and ask for the coppers numbers from this morning as I forgot to take them. They wouldn't answer the buzzer. So I hid myself behind the cars they thought I'd gone half an hour later one came out realy shocked to see me and I demanded their numbers. He said he was in a hurry (getting into his car to go home.. not a dee dah) and couldn't do it so I stood in front of his car and refused to move untill he gave me the numbers. Persistence will win. I got the numbers will double check them tomorrow. If he's fobbed me off complaint will go into chief honcho! I'm in a stubborn fighting mood now. I will win or die trying.!

Don't mean to sound funny or out of order, as obviously I can see how frustrating this most be for you, but if I was the police and I'd seen this behaviour from you (and probably seen you hiding behind the cars on the CCTV too) then I might be more inclined to believe that your neighbour is the normal one, and you are the paranoid, lying, weird nutter - not him. The police will take the line of least resistance for what they will incorrectly see as a low level nuisance crime. From experience you are best recording (even if it's written) all contact with the neighbour and all the incidents - writing them up with dates and times and specifics. This then starts to build up a body of usable evidence.
Your friends backing away from supporting your case, isn't a positive, may be worthwhile exploring subtly with them what happened as it will give you an insight into the police's viewpoint and also show how others less emotionally involved in the situation view your neighbours actions from the outside.
Also if you are not the only one suffering from his behaviour having others record their experiences and again reporting these experiences will give more evidence and another supporting voice.
Failing that go on hols, and get him sorted out (PS that is obviously a joke on a public forum).
Good luck with it Rich

 

[brambles]

Always mention the words "anti social behaviour aggravated by prejudice against the disabled" whhen describing his actions to the police, should be enough magic buzz words to get them to do something

 

[Woody girl]

Don't mean to sound funny or out of order, as obviously I can see how frustrating this most be for you, but if I was the police and I'd seen this behaviour from you (and probably seen you hiding behind the cars on the CCTV too) then I might be more inclined to believe that your neighbour is the normal one, and you are the paranoid, lying, weird nutter - not him. The police will take the line of least resistance for what they will incorrectly see as a low level nuisance crime. From experience you are best recording (even if it's written) all contact with the neighbour and all the incidents - writing them up with dates and times and specifics. This then starts to build up a body of usable evidence.
Your friends backing away from supporting your case, isn't a positive, may be worthwhile exploring subtly with them what happened as it will give you an insight into the police's viewpoint and also show how others less emotionally involved in the situation view your neighbours actions from the outside.
Also if you are not the only one suffering from his behaviour having others record their experiences and again reporting these experiences will give more evidence and another supporting voice.
Failing that go on hols, and get him sorted out (PS that is obviously a joke on a public forum).
Good luck with it Rich

They play this game with me a lot refusing to answer the door and talk to me. Wasn't gonna let them do it this time so I just sat on the wall reading a book out of their line of sight. Cars are parked on the road. Tiny rural station. There is a seat there too for public use on a bit of grass a couple of feet away. I wasn't acting out of order playing silly buggers hiding crouched down and jumping out on him as you possibly envision. As for my friends abandoning me well they are in their seventies. They have stood by me thick and thin for a very long time. On reflection perhaps the police are not taking their statement seriously and I know my friend was shaken by the event. Perhaps they've decided to just have a few days away. I know I would if I didn't have to be here.
It's easy to make comments like this when you are not in this sort of situation have family and not disabled. Do you realy think I'm not all there? This sort of comment doesn't help a person who is already distressed at what is going on. I'm as normal as possible. I think you'd be spitting angry too if you were in my place and nobody cared enough to stop a bully. What if it was your mum or wife or sister. Would you say that to them after something like this. I've not given a lot of details so it's understandable if you don't quite get the picture.

 

[Clayze]

I've had to deal with antisocial behaviour in the past , the consequences really were quite profound, my job and family life almost put on hold.
There are people that seem to have little respect for themselves, let alone others.
Apathy can be a pretty tough one to deal with.

 

[Woody110]

I can see that this is a very frustrating time for you, and can only empathise with you, however I read some of the posts and worry about what advice people give. Self defence being one of them, he came up your drive with a knife out, your advice was to use deadly force... I would highly recommend not doing this, just lock your door.
Yes you have a right under common law to defend yourself, however proving that this was the only option is for you to prove, and if you could have moved away to a place of safety, you would be sent to prison.

My advice would be as some have said, to record any interactions, irrelevant of who started the interaction. Also go out of your way to avoid any confrontation, let the police deal with him with the evidence you provide, this could be in written format but best would be audio/video.

This is not the best place to get advice, and I would speak with your local Neighbourhood Policing Team. Without the full facts (which is impossible on a forum), any advice may not be appropriate.

Some people have mentioned that the police do nothing, however I can assure you the police don’t just “the bare minimum”, they can only work with what is there, and by that I mean proper evidence, where they can prove a defendant has committed the offence beyond all reasonable doubt.

 

[Robbi]

I can see that this is a very frustrating time for you, and can only empathise with you, however I read some of the posts and worry about what advice people give. Self defence being one of them, he came up your drive with a knife out, your advice was to use deadly force... I would highly recommend not doing this, just lock your door.
Yes you have a right under common law to defend yourself, however proving that this was the only option is for you to prove, and if you could have moved away to a place of safety, you would be sent to prison.

My advice would be as some have said, to record any interactions, irrelevant of who started the interaction. Also go out of your way to avoid any confrontation, let the police deal with him with the evidence you provide, this could be in written format but best would be audio/video.

This is not the best place to get advice, and I would speak with your local Neighbourhood Policing Team. Without the full facts (which is impossible on a forum), any advice may not be appropriate.

Some people have mentioned that the police do nothing, however I can assure you the police don’t just “the bare minimum”, they can only work with what is there, and by that I mean proper evidence, where they can prove a defendant has committed the offence beyond all reasonable doubt.

love your sig line

 

[rich d2]

It's easy to make comments like this when you are not in this sort of situation have family and not disabled. Do you realy think I'm not all there? This sort of comment doesn't help a person who is already distressed at what is going on. I'm as normal as possible. I think you'd be spitting angry too if you were in my place and nobody cared enough to stop a bully. What if it was your mum or wife or sister. Would you say that to them after something like this. I've not given a lot of details so it's understandable if you don't quite get the picture.

You're misreading what I said, I never implied that I think you're not all there, it was unclear from your post how you'd hidden from the police and I was trying to give advice on what they might think not knowing you and hearing someone else's perspective as loudly as your own. I'd tried to give advice on recording what was happening and also getting others to do the same. I'd also said I can understand how you feel. Sorry if it came across wrong. Hope you get it sorted, guess that's the problem with the internet. Here's the UK official advice, although no doubt , as it's an ongoing problem you've already read it and followed it, so sorry if it's patronising.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/problems-where-you-live/complaining-about-your-neighbour/

Rich

 

[Nice65]

@Woody110

I read some of the posts and worry about what advice people give. Self defence being one of them, he came up your drive with a knife out, your advice was to use deadly force...

Get you post quotes and facts sorted and don’t muddle a load of posts into one misleading sentence. The implication of your remark is that I advised deadly force. Re-write that or remove it please. Or preferably use actual quotes from the posts so the likes of myself aren’t having to put up their own defence.

It was me who said we had a neighbour on our land with a sheath knife. He didn’t come up the drive with a knife out, and the deadly force (not quoted either) applies to a USA poster where the law is different on defence. He used his legal access to maintain his property to wander about on our several acres, taking his knife out and whittling a stick when approached. It was extremely cold and threatening, but he claimed he’d seen youths on the drive and they’d run off over our property. When reported, again, nothing was done.

All you’re doing is further muddying the waters, saying you empathise, as we all do, and agreeing with the general consensus that everything needs to be recorded. It’s a lame response, and exactly what the police told us to do. It didn’t gain anything. Even digging an air pellet out of one of the shot cameras didn’t evoke any interest by the police. They were scared of him, neighbours were scared of him, nobody said anything that might involve them or intimidate the bloke. The police have done absolutely naff all to this day.

He threatened me by holding a key to my neck to get access to the side of his house, the driveway running up the side of his property. He demanded a key to our gates. I said we’d allow access whenever he needed to maintain his property. He broke the gates down. We didn’t replace them, but hung another double gate further up the drive, outside any of his boundaries. He contested the position of one of the brick piers, and threatened legal action. A few days later a large sign in red spray paint was left leaning by the pier saying it would be torn down on the following Friday. By this stage my dad had spent several thousand pounds on legal fees to be definite about the land boundary. The fact is the neighbour couldn’t have given a toss about the gate, he just wanted to torment and bully.

See this look, a proper quote.

Some people have mentioned that the police do nothing, however I can assure you the police don’t just “the bare minimum”, they can only work with what is there, and by that I mean proper evidence, where they can prove a defendant has committed the offence beyond all reasonable doubt.

Not so. They didn’t even bother with the bare minimum. My neighbour got his shoulder and ribs broken with an iron bar and spent two weeks in hospital. The police were scared of the nutter as much as the rest of us. How long does someone have to invest money and time in cameras, audio, lighting etc, document everything down to the last second while just trying to live a normal life, before the police do anything?