Anti-social behaviour case studies

*names have been changed to protect our customers

 

“Thomas”

Dealing with anti-social behaviour is often a complex and time-consuming process, involving lots of moving parts, multiple agencies and a challenge to establish the facts.

But thanks to the bravery and determination of a concerned customer in Devon, which was later praised by a judge in court, one community is now free of a troublesome tenant.

Thomas* worked tirelessly to speak up for his neighbours when another resident moved in and immediately began causing problems for everyone in the scheme. He refused to back down even when his life was threatened.

He said: “I’ve lived here with my wife for 12 years. For the most part, it’s been a pleasant and happy place to live and I’ve enjoyed maintaining the garden for the wider community to enjoy. 

Since the perpetrator moved into his property, things have been unsettled and unpleasant. His behaviour has had a massive impact on my ability to enjoy my home and to go about my daily activities, for example tending to the garden without fear of verbal abuse, or worse.”

The perpetrator’s behaviour quickly became worse, with vandalism of the garden, multiple instances of noise, shouting, alcohol and drug use, and verbal abuse of others at the scheme. When challenged on their behaviour, things got worse.

“I heard him shouting ‘you’re a dead man’ and ‘I’m going to kill you’. I told the police and they told him that if they had to return about his behaviour then he’d be arrested. 

The next day I recorded him threatening me again, angrily shouting that they’d kill me if I called the police again. I was extremely frightened listening to this and my wife was incredibly upset.” 

The perpetrator’s abusive behaviour continued, with abusive letters, accusations, noise, more threats and more vandalism affecting the entire community.

Despite several visits and warnings, the perpetrator’s behaviour didn’t improve, and the team were forced to apply to court for an injunction to try and put some protection in place for the community. Fearing that this would put Thomas, his wife and his neighbours in more danger, the team also asked the judge for an exclusion order meaning that the perpetrator wouldn’t be able to return home during his notice period.

While the team were successful with the injunction, the application for an exclusion wasn’t granted, and that the perpetrator would be allowed back into the community for the rest of his notice period. Although Thomas was disappointed by this, the Judge told the court that he was aware that although lots of people are affected by anti-social behaviour, people have to come forward to make a stand and commended Thomas for his bravery in attending court in the face of such volatile behaviour.

Throughout the process, our team recognised that the perpetrator was displaying behaviours that could be linked to of mental ill-health and had tried repeatedly to arrange for some support from local mental health services. But, with regular communication and information sharing, our team were able to enable mental health services to intervene and has recommended that he stay with them so he can receive proper care and treatment, giving Thomas and his neighbours some respite until he moves out.

Thomas said: “On behalf of everyone here, I would like to thank you for your help in resolving this matter. We appreciate the hard work and would like to offer you our sincere gratitude.” 

 

ASB Case Study #1

Complaints were received from two local residents regarding our customer at a large mixed tenure scheme, playing loud music/games from his television which were causing a nuisance and annoyance to others.  The residents provided recordings via The Noise App which clearly evidenced loud noise. Contact was made with the customer to explain the impact the noise was having on others in the area. The customer struggles with his mental health so a welfare visit was needed by the Police as he was considering suicide.

The case worker arranged to visit the customer to discuss further the complaints and the volume his television and suggested that he used his headset more especially at unsocial hours.

There was a reduction in the noise nuisance which meant that the case could be closed without formal action being taken.

 

ASB Case Study #2

Stonewater successfully applied for injunctions against our customer and her partner in a small general needs block that had been causing significant ASB in the local area. This action almost immediately stopped the ASB. The order on the partner was later made final and a consent order agreed for our customer.

Stonewater was contacted by the Police to confirm that the partner had been arrested for assaulting our customer, they had assaulted another neighbour and been found in a location which the injunction prevented.  It was agreed that the Police would continue to investigate the assaults and when he attended for bail later that month, he would be further arrested for breaching the injunction. The Police then contacted Stonewater again to confirm that he had breached his injunction again and had been arrested.

Stonewater instructed a Solicitor to deal with the breach and received the relevant information from the Police. The perpetrator agreed that he had breached the order and his injunction was extended for a 12 months.

His behaviour had impacted on several residents in the area and by working in partnership with the Police we were able to take swift action.

 

ASB Case Study #3

We have two neighbours who have lived together for a number of years. Customer A stated that, after a small argument a couple of summers ago, he feels his neighbour now does everything to wind him up when he is out in is garden. He told us his neighbour watches and listens to everything he does and we received lots of reports which ranged from trickling water ponds, to smells from lobster pots and that one customers fish being poisoned.

We worked closely with Environmental Health and also got our customers to agree to mediation after a lot of persuasion. This was a great success. It had been a long journey for our customers, but they have now learnt the skills to speak to each other.

Its important for people to understand how others feels as someone can be going through a lot of personal issues and there are always outside factors to consider. The learnings from the case were that we need to ensure we are being opened minded to both sides of the story and that evidence is key. Just because someone is reporting a problem does not always mean we can take action with no evidence, but giving the customers the right support can help them on the path to moving forward when they are stuck in a situation.