‘Trapped in our home’ – Doorbell camera captures neighbour’s abuse and threats
Housing correspondent
It was the early morning of March 2024, and Ben woke up by yelling. It was targeted at him, and he said it was a threat. It’s a woman living in the apartment below.
An hour ago, you could have seen and heard the threat on the camera screen of the doorbell. It had been hit several times and he said he had hardly slept.
This is the 78th incident that Ben started a year ago.
He said he was “abuseful” and “physically threatened to leave the house and we would be shot, stabbed and broken knee”. He said he is now living in a state of constant fear.
Ben bought Wandsworth’s front-scene apartment about three years ago, and about six months later Drina Gray moved into the apartment below. He said the problem began soon after.
He said that besides the threat, he and his girlfriend Emma were plagued by noise in the apartment below, including the tenant’s dog barking, music, yelling and vacuuming.
He said the damage even affected his ability to work.
“Because I’m so sleeping, I started working very late. I couldn’t focus on my work. Ultimately, I lost my job due to the stress and anxiety.”
Ben ended up getting a new job but said he had been feeling “really helpless” and said the whole experience had a negative impact on his mental health.
Emma added that she was also “feared”.
“We’re just trapped,” she said.
Ben and Emma do not experience antisocial behavior alone. According to the latest official data on crime investigations in England and Wales, 36% experienced or witnessed antisocial behavior last year, up from 34% in the previous year.
Ben was a leaseholder for the neighborhood owned by the council and said many of his complaints to the Wandsworth Council were not answered.
He said he felt ignored despite mentions of concerns about mental health and threats to violence.
Ben and Emma summoned police to their address more than 20 times and said that while local neighborhood police helped, they would be defeated by the system and responded to the time when they called 999. disappointment”.
In August, an official review team composed of police and public officials found that “there is no good communication between agencies” and “neither the agency has ownership of the case”.
The Wandsworth Council accepted that “it could have taken action faster.”
Ben now complains to the Housing Ombudsman.
Throughout the past year, the Housing Ombudsman has ruled that of the 809 cases of anti-social behavior he chaired, 67% of social landlords have not dealt with the issue to the appropriate standards.
“Antisocial behavior can cause unimaginable distress to people, have profound impacts on communities, and manage landlords is complex,” said Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway.
He added that he repeatedly saw “the problem of prolonging failure and made residents feel unheard of and continue to suffer”.
The BBC showed some videos to Baroness Helen Newlove, the victims commissioner of victims in England and Wales.
“This shows that the system no longer works to protect innocent people,” she said.
Baroness Newlove, the husband of Baroness Newlove, was attacked by three young men in August 2007 after attacking his home outside his home in Warrington, Cheshire , attacked in the hospital, he went to talk to the gang he thought had ruined his wife’s car.
She said 17 years later, institutions remain unaware of the impact of anti-social behavior on victims. She fears that paying more attention to it will bring another death because it will not be considered a “low-level” crime.
She said her inbox was filled with victims’ complaints about antisocial behavior.
Baroness Nurov hopes that the new powers of the Crime and Police Act drafted this year will improve protection for victims.
In December, Ben’s neighbor Drina Gray pleaded guilty to charges including harassment and criminal damage and will be sentenced in March.
Ben said anti-social behavior has been ongoing and MS Gray has been retreated several times since. She returned to her apartment after her first arrest, but the BBC knew she was temporarily staying elsewhere on bail terms.
The Council said that after the court case, property is now being sought.
But Ben said he didn’t know when Ms. Gray would move permanently.
The Wandsworth Council said in a statement, “There is great emphasis on criminal and anti-social behavior and we work with partners to support residents and take appropriate action to those in charge.
“This is a complex case where housing officials have been working closely with many different agencies, including police, to resolve the matter.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department said: “Any form of anti-social behavior is taken seriously and we work with colleagues in local authorities to ensure that the problem raised is resolved”.
The spokesman said of Ben and Emma’s specific cases that police are working to “make sure the offenders are brought to court if there is evidence to support it.”
The BBC contacted Ms. Grey for comment.
