(July 2011) Assaulted by my teenage neighbors and their friends, What can I do?

[petersen]

i think you should just go and speak to the mother in a very relaxed zen way, just be 'its not on really is it? imagine if your son came home looking like this all cut and bruised. we are neighbours and we should get along, we should each be able to relax in our own homes, me without being hurt by a group and you without having the responsibility.'

I must say though if her son behaves like that, watch out for the woman. you can judge a person on their kids.

[Manda]

Awful!

We've had non-stop problems with the people above us and found Southwark Council appalling. BUT you have James Barber's support now so use it.

Keep the diary - for noise and incidents

Write to the mother

Get other neighbours on board if you can - it's harder for the council to fob you off if there are more of you

Report it to SASBU (Southwark;s Anti-Social Behaviour Unit) via the SNT - Safer Neighbourhood Team. They both have a duty of care towards you in this instance and have to fully investigate, but (and I speak from bitter experience) keep records of all they promise to do as I have found them dishonest, duplicitous and reluctant to act. Ultimately they seem to spend a lot of time avoiding having to actually deal with the problem and I think this goes for many councils.

Our nuisance neighbours are currently being evicted by their landlord but it's taken us 3 years to make that happen. We also served a noise abatement order on their landlord under Section 82, we won and then then won again when he breached it. We had to do it all by ourselves, Southwark Council just left us to suffer, for YEARS. Really the council's should have this power removed and the Police should resume control. Council staff don't have the expertise or the inclination to deal with these often very serious situations and on two occasions this year, placed us in a position of greater risk through their incompetence.

Good luck, I think you're drawing the right attention and will get somewhere, you just have to persevere and if those boys do anything like that again, call the Police every time, even if it's just to report it after the fact.

[Jaws]

Definately call Southwark noise and nuisance team - they will visit you and then go to speak with the noisy people. It can be any time of the day too. If the noisy people continue then they will serve a legal notice to them and may or may not (depending on the situation) call the police. If they make a nuisance of themselves one more time, then it's off to court they go - generally anyway. I used to work for the noice team and they are defo worth giving a call too. Good luck!

[nancyse15]

The noise team are great in my experience. I've called them out numerous times and they come in a timely fashion and take the complaints seriously. They issue a verbal warning first of all, then a letter and if necessary their homes are at risk if they are in breach of their leases. Don't dismiss it as a strategy. You need to build up a file of written evidence. good luck.

[EG]

So, Here we go again, the sun is out and my neighbor's Kid and his friends have started up again partying in the back garden until 5am on a weekday. If you have read this thread before, you will know that last year this all ended with one of those kids giving me a black eye when I asked them to take it indoors at 3am. Kid spent night in jail, counsel did pretty much nothing but "record" my complaints.

As I just said it's all begun again and this will be the third year now that no one gets any sleep in my house. I have called the counsil, I have documented the incidents, called the police etc, etc. The councel said there was nothing they could do about "people noise" only is there was stereo, or music etc disturbing the peace. I don't know what to do here? Why should we have to suffer through this every year? My neighbors on either side of me don't like it either, but unfortunately they are the "don't want to cause any trouble" types and wont say or do anything (sigh).

I am afraid that this is going to end up getting really ugly and it doesn't have to go that way. I live with 4 other people that are all effected by this. Why is it that nothing can be done about it?? I don't care if they are partying, just take it inside after midnight for god sake! Thats all I ask. I don't do well with feeling powerless in situations like these, and I shouldn't have to ever take matters into my own hands, because it's pointless and will just make things worse.

My neighbors live on Kelmore Grove. if there is anyone on here that lives close and is effected by these guys please speak up, my lone complaints to the counsel are falling on deaf ears. I have taken the previous advice from this thread, but it has led to nothing.

[Cora]

Really sympathise. Am surprised the local neighbourhood police can't help/advise. Maybe worth talking to them at a p.re-arranged time when you can discuss the situation with them not just at a time when it is in response to a complaint. I thought this was what Asbos were for?

[pipsky2008]

You are right to try and get support from neighbours. It is very important that you also put down in writing, times, dates of nuisance. Also very important how it affects the quality of your life. Detail is important. Keep notes. Use photographs too and set the camera to record time and date where appropriate.

When ringing the environmental enforcement team, get a reference number from the person answering the phone. The ref numbers begin 008, again get it all down on paper, you are building up a case.

When the noise team come they make a subjective assessment which means they listen and decide if it constitutes a statutory nuisance, a criminal offence. If they consider it does they have the power to enter the offending premises and ask them to turn the music down. That is not the end of the matter though and it is a bit of a long haul.

Make your local councillor aware of your plight too. basically make all the authorities aware and make sure it is all in writing, avoid phone conversations

I feel for you.

[stacey-lyn]

I empathise with you. Mum-in-law suffered years of this sort of anti-social behaviour (and worse). The summer months, in particular, were intolerable. She kept a diary (as instructed by all and sundry) and notified the noise team & police each time (try to get an incident number from them, different to a crime reference number, or some sort of reference as it's all valid evidence). We even got witness statements from visitors including community nurses etc. The police and council were ineffective (they were council tenants) but when we invested in cctv and with the evidence caught on camera, they acted. It was a worthwhile investment. You have to careful about privacy issues & make sure that it is installed correctly. Best.

[Jeremy]

I would suggest knocking on all of your neighbours' doors, or dropping leaflets through the doors (or better still, both). If you can get a group of several households together, then you will have a much better chance of stopping this.

[loveED86]

EG so sorry for what you are going through-I know this situation all to well.I have just recently moved from neighbours from hell,over 5 years I reported to local council offices,southwark anti social behaviour unit,police, local mps advice surgery but not much was done,in the end I had no choice but to move. Southwark council are absolutely useless in these types of situations and people are just getting away with causing unacceptable grief towards others.

[pipsky2008]

loveED86 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> EG so sorry for what you are going through-I know

> this situation all to well.I have just recently

> moved from neighbours from hell,over 5 years I

> reported to local council offices,southwark anti

> social behaviour unit,police, local mps advice

> surgery but not much was done,in the end I had no

> choice but to move. Southwark council are

> absolutely useless in these types of situations

> and people are just getting away with causing

> unacceptable grief towards others.

I think there is an issue of conflict of interest when Southwark council, and probably every other borough council for that matter, come to taking action against their own institutions or tennants that cause nuisance using evidence gained by Southwark employed enforcement teams. That's how it seems to me.

[snowy]

EG, aside from Tynan paste on their door, you could try Southwark Mediation Service

http://www.southwarkmediation.co.uk/

If they haven't had their budget cut.

Best route is as you've described though - keep a log, and get your neighbours involved. Who's your local councillor; can you badger them by twitter/phone every time it happens?

[DJKillaQueen]

It's not true to say the council can not do something, but yes they need to have evidence. ASBOs are being phased out but there is a process which starts with a voluntary ASBO agreement between the offending person(s) and ends with an injuction if the council can convince a magistrate to grant it. A person does not have to be a council tenant to be dealt with by this process, but obviously a council tenant can be evicted for ASB. As part of an ASBO, the friends visiting your neighbour for example, can be restricted to the hours they visit.

The hard part though is convicing the council that the problem is so detrimental to local residents that they need to act. So definitely worth engaging with other neighbours and getting collective evidence and complaint together. It is not going to be a quick process, but persistence will pay off.

[Monkey]

EG,

Please follow Manda's advice which is pretty much what I advised you to do at the time of your first post(had sent you a PM). The noise unit cannot help you. They do not deal with "people noise". You need to contact the ASBO team and make sure you make yourself a bigger problem to them than your troublesome neighbours. I was fobbed off by the team a few times unless I lost my cool and emailed a whole range of people including head of asbo team, head of local area housing unit, head of safer neighbourhood programme... etc. From the moment I sent this group email, a senior ASBO officer was appointed and called me on a regular basis (several times a week). My neighbours were moved within three months if my memory serves me right.

[Gidget]

They can only be moved or evicted if they contravene tenancy terms, if they are council or house association tenants? Are they? If private tenants then they should be evicted. Good idea to do the round robin email.

[Monkey]

Of course they can be evicted if they are council tenants. Councils have a responsibility to ensure that their tenants behave. Now where it would be difficult is if the house belongs to the people causing all the trouble.

[DJKillaQueen]

Which is where the court come into play. Breaking an injuction for example, is an arrestable offence. So a private homeowner can have restrictions placed on them and their guests which can lead to fines or even imprisonment if broken. Council tenants can lose their home altogether and private tenants can be evicted by their landlords for ASB.

[Linz]

EG - how far up Solway Road do you live? I'm going to look at a place on Solway Rd next week and I'm keen to find out as much about the street as I can before making a decision. I had a bad experience about 4 years back where our neighbour's sons were members of a local postcode gang in the east end and caused us a lot of problems. On some evenings there would be up to 20 of them hanging around outside the front door , spitting on visitors and harrassing my female housemate. It caused us months of distress and I'm keen to avoid it happening again at any cost.

[Damon Baird]

I only joined the forum yesterday and this is only my second post, it's a shame it would have to be on a topic like this.

Quite few years ago (before girlfriend and kids) I had problems with a group of mid teenagers next door. There would be about 15 or so constantly hanging outside, leaning on my car (making dents in it) and once they even smashed my window. I called the police on that occasion. The kids didn't even move on and just said they never saw anything. The police just said "sorry, nothing we can do" and went off.

The point of my post is that "taking matters into your own hands" is a bad idea.

I have several fairly handy friends of which are few are doormen and security guards. I gave them a shout and about 8 of them got together one evening and I confronted the kids. They wouldn't back down and it got physical. We had the first, middle and last say and the next day they weren't to be seen.

The day after they were back knocking on my door, hitting my car and screaming for me to come out. Now, I work, so do all my friends, they have kids and committments, they can't come round at the drop of a hat. So I was stuck on my own to deal with the kids.

I moved soon after but it was a concern even just coming home as you didn't know if they were going to be there when you come round the corner, ending up fight 10-15 kids on your own.

EG You have to stay calm (I know its hard) and think logically. My heart goes out to you it's such a pants situation to be in.

[uncleglen]

Very upsetting. Another aspect of this type of thing is if, like us, you attempt to politely speak to the parents and the parents verbally lay into you in front of the kids. Fortunately for us the family moved away soon after.

[Manda]

Hello,

Just remembered this post and wondered if you had made any progress or of it had come to an end?

It occurred to me that you should copy James Barber into any emails you send to the Anti social behavioural unit or the Noise Team or the Safer Neighbourhood Team. They won't ignore you if he is monitoring the response.

I have lots of contact info so if it's still going on, PM me.

Hate to think of anyone suffering in the way that we did.