Should i go to court?

Question

there is a scumbag family that live near me who terrorise the estate. the kids boys and girls aged 8-15 have got to be the most horrible racist, theiving, nasty, drug taking ugly slime faced bullies i have ever met. anyway i had to go to my local neighbour office to complain as my hubby was on the verge of 'sorting' the lads out himself and he would have got himself in trouble. anyway someone from the local housing office has since contacted me asking me to go to court to stand up against them with others who have complained about them over the years. what would you do? if i dont there may not be enough evidence to get them removed from the area and if i do and they still dont get removed then what?

the kids all have asbos and have for at least five years i know of. unfotunately the kids get their training from their parents.

Answer 1

I feel so sorry for you - you must feel trapped in your own neighbourhood. Why aren't the police allowed to do the job we (the taxpayer) are paying them for? This country is going to the dogs I'm afraid.
I don't have a solution to your problem. I think you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't!
Any chance of moving? I ask this question seriously. Look at what happened to that poor guy last week. He went out of his house to stop vandals damaging his property. He ended up being beaten to death.
What a society we're living in.

Answer 2

Go to the police station and ask to see all the police reports. They should be a matter of public record. Then go around and talk to other neighbors or ask the local housing office to give you the names and phone numbers or call a meeting of those who are willing to go to court and testify. Have them bring an attorney so you know where you will stand. If you all join together and you can preserve your anonymity to a point, then by all means, go to court and testify. Just make sure that you are not out there alone. In the meantime, try to take videos of the bullies doing their thing and be sure that you have the audio on. Then, if you can't get in touch with others who are willing to testify, try having the videotape given to the housing office by an attorney -- so your identity can be protected and maybe the attorney can even use it to catch the little monstors and get them prosecuted without your help.
Get people together -- don't let the bullies win or they'll just keep doing what they're doing.

Answer 3

Sounds to me like a breach of an ASBO, something the Courts would be keen to enforce but I guess you live in a Council Housing Area so your local Office should take this on board. They can apply to the Court for an order to evict the families that cause social nuisance.
Go for it and get some of these unsociable louts treated to a taste of their own behaviour.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the social misfits were housed together so that the Police could deal with them more effectively!

Answer 4

OK, you're in the UK as you said "neighbour" with a "u". Good. It also sounds as though you are either in social housing or that these creatures might be. Does your area have a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in place? If not, talk to your local bobby at the police station (they call them Beat Managers now). Get his email address and ensure that the station's anti-spam software will allow .jpg images to go through.

Then you and your fellow NWs photograph every instance of antisocial behaviour committed by these yobs. Preferably without being seen. If it's night-time take the picture from within a darkened room with the window closed because then they cannot see in. The pictures might not be of the highest quality but I recommend that you avoid using flash if at all possible as that will identify your position as the photographer. If you have a security camera installed, record what it sees onto video.

Report EVERYTHING through your neighbourhood watch co-ordinator giving details of what is going on in every picture that you send and naming only those whom you can positively identify.

More importantly copy the local housing people - be they council or housing association - into every email. In the UK, all tenancy agreements have a clause in them which decrees that tenants shall not infringe on the peace or security of their neighbours. If they breach this clause they can be evicted quickly and simply. The fact that you are seen to be dealing with the local police via a respected form of public assistance to them will light a fire under your council or HA rep and things should start happening pretty quickly. As part of the eviction you should ask the evicting authority to also obtain an injunction forbidding the offenders to return to within "x" distance of the area in which they were housed. Otherwise you'll end up with bricks through your windows or damage to your car.... that sort of thing.

Good luck.

Answer 5

It's called civic duty..if it is good enough to make complaints against these people then it is good enough to follow through and appear in court. Not the most pleasant of experiences I'm sure, but one that sends a message to others who want to make peoples lives a misery. If these type of people don't get sorted out we end up with anarchy and people just thinking they have the right to make others lives a misery. I applaud what you are doing, if only more people were willing to go the extra bit we may not have so many problems with these type of people. Good luck.

Answer 6

Its your choice...they either get removed or not...its a risk you have to take but its not going anywhere until the majority have stood against them.

I am surprised that you are having to give evidence to a court. I think you ought to approach housing authority/local authority and ask for a better way round it.

Everyone has a right to a peaceful private life

Answer 7

Be careful, the Courts tend to take the side of the neighbours from hell if there are children involved and where will that leave you?. Then the do gooders will "plead" their case and you will be made to look like the "bad guy". Have suffered similar situation, best move, sue your Council for breach of their statutory duty if it's a Council house.

Answer 8

Difficult.
I think you should and that you should encourage others to do so.
As an alternative organise a rent or rate strike amongst your neighbours. Councils soon react if they loose money.
The real problem with the situation is that if the Council know they are trouble makers they should be able to shift them without recourse to the Courts. A pity yobs qualify for human rights.

Answer 9

Think about it. All these people, including you, have complained. If you do not go to court and the family gets to stay, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you go and they still get to stay, the court must not have enough reasons to force them out.

Answer 10

Go to court, everybody is entitled to peace, comfort and safety in their homes and they are inhibiting this right.