When is somebody going to take control?

noangel · Post by **noangel** » 3 Feb 2010 15:21

Eagle, thank you for your support. I was gearing up for an attack from the regulars.

I don't know what I did to provoke such an attack and I would like to think that Ulysses won't have done so if they knew my circumstances. I understand that they may be passionate about the area they live in but if someone was to dismiss something I was passionate about I would do my best to convince them otherwise.

Thanks for your advice. I already hit the lowest ebb during the "terror campaign" when I was ill and unfortunately the impact was to me as I blamed myself (which Ulysses suggested I do). 2 additional months signed off work and additional medication for a new illness. It was then that I decided to move but with the recession and job cuts at work. I'm pleased to say that I am now stronger about this situation therefore am not going to hesitate to take action if they "start off" again. I like my little flat and the fact I have a beautiful park so near; should be them moving not me.

I only hope the original poster, RebelMC, doesn't get to the point I got and is able to resolve the matter peacefully.

Eagle · Post by **Eagle** » 3 Feb 2010 15:57

Glad to see you are so positive and the very best of luck.
Sydenham is genearlly a nice area ( as you say) , but there are some very rotten apples.

dickp · Post by **dickp** » 3 Feb 2010 18:16

Yep. Tempting as it might be to retaliate, if you want to win any battle with your neighbours, your own behaviour has to be beyond reproach.

Otherwise any court case will just turn into a mutual slanging match, and you will not get an order against your neighbour.

For example, that also goes for not breaching a lease by having wooden floors, if carpets are required. Otherwise that cuts off using the landlord to enforce good behaviour.

The system does work, if you push. I won.

Eagle · Post by **Eagle** » 3 Feb 2010 19:28

Angel
Did i miss something. Have you got wooden floors?

dickp · Post by **dickp** » 3 Feb 2010 19:35

Dunno - I'm using "you" metaphorically, not at any one person.

And have now ammended earlier comments to show this.

noangel · Post by **noangel** » 3 Feb 2010 19:38

ha ha, actually I do in my living room but they were fitted with special noise reducing installation. It's allowed in my lease. (My neighbours do too) But I don't know how Dick P knew!! I'm getting a bit scared now as people who I don't know on this forum profess to know a lot about me.

where I live, that I'm actually the problem neighbour ... now the decor of my flat

Though I don't think dick's comment was directed towards me. I think it was a general comment.

dickp · Post by **dickp** » 3 Feb 2010 19:49

Don't worry, you're not being stalked. I've just lived in flats too long - I've seen it all before.

Actually, when you have a problem neighbour, it often does make you think how your houshold habits percieved by your own neighbours.

That tumble dryer you run in the evening - do the neighbours work shifts? The dog that barks when you come home at night. The *ahem* squeaking headboard....that's not the kind of thing that crops up in coversation as you pass on the stairs!

Miserableold-ish git · Post by **Miserableold-ish git** » 4 Feb 2010 10:12

I had very similar problems during the Mid 90's when living in Inchmery Road, Catford. We lived in a converted house and lived on the ground floor. The kids upstairs would be running about at 3am screaming, etc. Ask the neighbour politely to try and keep the kids quite......
About 6 months later I was arrested for "Racial Abuse".
To cut a very very long story short after being arrested I was allowed to go to my home for 6 months: If I needed something from there I had to have 2 policemen with me. I was forced to pay rent for all this time and was staying at my Parents in Sydenham. I tried to get help from my councillers and Mr.J.Dowd (who told me he couldn't help as "(He) worked for Lewisham Council" !!)
Finally went to a 3 day hearing at Bellmarsh, taking with me 12 "character" witnesses, and after a day and a half the Judge threw the case out, saying it was a neighbourly dispute, Nothing to do with Race or Colour.
The Mercury Newspaper wanted to do an interview, but I declined saying that I didn't want the A***h*** in the BNP to twist it as a "White beats Black" arguement.
The Council said they were advised to have me arrested by my neighbour,The Police said they arrested me because of my neighbour. She said The Council backed her and advised her on filling in the paperwork.
Because of the stress I lost My Wife, My Business, My Home (I'm now living in a 1 bed flat) and my Saneity.
All this because of 1 selfish person who didn't give a toss about anyone else.

Eagle · Post by **Eagle** » 4 Feb 2010 13:00

What a terrible story. More than likely your neighbour was on benefit and father had fled.
It is outrageous that working tax payers should be evicted by people living of the rest of us.

Miserableold-ish git · Post by **Miserableold-ish git** » 4 Feb 2010 22:46

Thanks "Eagle" :
If anyone has a spare day or 3 I'll let you read my 12 Folders full of paperwork. Including Mr Dowd's Non contribution.

Whats that coming over the hill.........

CaptainCarCrash · Post by **CaptainCarCrash** » 5 Feb 2010 11:43

In all the years that I have been playing music I have never had one complaint because I try to be considerate, I never play amplified during practice sessions and when I plug in it's never later than 9:00PM.

It would be wrong of me to play scales and sequences amplified, Imagine a 4 hour chromatic nightmare, nothanks that's why I keep it to myself.

I lived next door to a drummer once who did not care what time of day or night he would bang on the kit, I appreciate musicians need to pratice but he sounded like he was building a garden shed.

Someone broke into his house a stabbed all the skins on his drums, he got the message.

noangel · Post by **noangel** » 5 Feb 2010 12:40

mikecg wrote:In all the years that I have been playing music I have never had one complaint because I try to be considerate, I never play amplified during practice sessions and when I plug in it's never later than 9:00PM.

Your neighbours might think you're a fanastic guitarist and wait in anticipation for you to play. Hence the lack of complaints

We're all guilty of doing something that's annoyed our neighbours. Especially if you're living in a flat; it's very difficult to keep 100% absolutely quiet and normal day-to-day noise is expected in those conditions. Most disturbance is unintentional and most of us are unaware that our actions have impacted our neighbours. But a conversation between adults and apologising profusely usually resolves matters amicably. Unfortunately, as some of us have experienced, there are some people out there that think it's their human right to create chaos and feel that others should suffer them.

We've all been pushed to the point whereby we've joined in the competition in the noise making only to realise later how foolish we were to lower ourselves to that standard. Only to continue to with our suffering in silence whilst our problem neighbours continue to enjoy their "merry making" without disturbance from the outside world.

That's my final word on the matter and possibly my final word on this forum.

Take care all

NA

Eagle · Post by **Eagle** » 5 Feb 2010 14:48

Very charitable and noble sentiments no angel. I hope your neighbours read your comments and feel ashamed.

Psi · Post by **Psi** » 3 Mar 2010 17:54

Miserableold-ish git wrote:I had very similar problems during the Mid 90's when living in Inchmery Road, Catford. We lived in a converted house and lived on the ground floor. The kids upstairs would be running about at 3am screaming, etc. Ask the neighbour politely to try and keep the kids quite......
About 6 months later I was arrested for "Racial Abuse".
To cut a very very long story short after being arrested I was allowed to go to my home for 6 months: If I needed something from there I had to have 2 policemen with me. I was forced to pay rent for all this time and was staying at my Parents in Sydenham. I tried to get help from my councillers and Mr.J.Dowd (who told me he couldn't help as "(He) worked for Lewisham Council" !!)
Finally went to a 3 day hearing at Bellmarsh, taking with me 12 "character" witnesses, and after a day and a half the Judge threw the case out, saying it was a neighbourly dispute, Nothing to do with Race or Colour.
The Mercury Newspaper wanted to do an interview, but I declined saying that I didn't want the A***h*** in the BNP to twist it as a "White beats Black" arguement.
The Council said they were advised to have me arrested by my neighbour,The Police said they arrested me because of my neighbour. She said The Council backed her and advised her on filling in the paperwork.
Because of the stress I lost My Wife, My Business, My Home (I'm now living in a 1 bed flat) and my Saneity.
All this because of 1 selfish person who didn't give a toss about anyone else.

You may be within the criteria of Malicious prosecution

http://www.jsboard.co.uk/civil_law/cbb/mf_16.htm

"16.5.2 Malicious prosecution

In practice, much less frequent than trials for false imprisonment. The claimant bears the burden of proving every element as well, of course, as damage. Malicious prosecution involves both a dishonest and an unreasonable prosecution - note that the onus of proving that the prosecutor did not act honestly or reasonably lies on the person prosecuted. It thus differs from wrongful arrest and detention.

The claimant has a number of hurdles to surmount and must prove that:

a) he was the subject of a criminal prosecution which eventually terminated in his favour whether by abandonment, verdict or on appeal. Quaere the position if it was stayed as an abuse of process;

b) the prosecution was initiated or continued by the defendant; and

c) the defendant acted without reasonable and probable cause. This involves two distinct elements:

· The absence of objective facts giving rise to reasonable and probable cause to justify the commencement or the continuation of the prosecution.

· That, notwithstanding the existence of reasonable and probable cause in an objective sense as determined by the judge, the defendant did not honestly believe that the facts justified the prosecution.

d) The claimant must also prove that the defendant was activated by malice, which means a motive other than a proper desire to initiate the criminal process. It might be proved by showing the officer lied or planted or fabricated evidence - all issues for the jury to determine. The decision to prosecute will usually be made by the CPS but the officer can be liable if he deliberately misled them."

If rather than actually believing the police believed you had committed a crime they were simply being egged on by the council who was being egged on by the neighbour that is a serious issue. I’m not an expert so I wouldn’t encourage you either way and it could be a lot of stress.

If the council behaved in an inappropriate way in the matter (eg, random employee wanting to turn a small matter in to a cause unreasonably) you could try the Local Government Ombudsman: http://www.lgo.org.uk. Would be less stress and more likely to be looking for unreasonable behaviour rather than “proof” of malicious intent.

Chris Best · Post by **Chris Best** » 4 Mar 2010 10:40

If we are unable to persuade the neighbour to keep the noise down, we can serve a notice on requiring them to stop making the noise nuisance. It is a criminal offence to breach this notice and the Council is permitted to:

seize amplification systems and other noisy equipment
ask a court to fine people who create noise nuisance.

Contact Environmental Enforcement - 020 8314 2170 working to 3am every day of the week.

Above is the information on what the Council can do - and on previous casework the outcome has been to seize equipment. Please contact me if you wish me to take up any case of noise nuisance - at present I do not have any casework that would relate to these posts.

Miserableold-ish git · Post by **Miserableold-ish git** » 5 Mar 2010 10:13

Thanks Psi:
Will have alook at this over the weekend.
All this happened over 10 Years ago, and I like to think I've "rebuilt" my life to the point where I won't claim "Dole" and want to work.
Unfortunetly the Carpet game is very quite at the moment, and, being on "Anti Depressants" for the rest of my life, having too much "SpareTime" on my hands is not good......
Tend to sit around, getting lazier & worrying about Bills, etc.
Amazing how none of these people in the Lewisham Offices have to explain their actions.......

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When is somebody going to take control?