To think i cannot be arrested on empty allegations and ASB logged against me

[sallysmiles]

posting here just for traffic.

Im looking for some advice as im so confused right now.
So i moved out of my last home with the same housing association in january due to a neighbor who harrassed me and was racist to me.
I reported her to the police several times, they did nothing because she of course denied it however she admitted to knocking on my door to argue with me twice and banging the floor at me.

So i moved and have lived happily in peace since that time. Randomly got a call from police who said i have been accused of harassment from her, i said how have i harrassed her, the rude obnoxious police officer wouldnt say and just kept saying i must attend the police station.
I told him NO if you have proof then come arrest me.

the reason i was like this because its is IMPOSSIBLE there is proof, i have NOT been near that area since moving, i have NO contact details of hers as well as her me.

I called back police who said to me it was likely a prank call because someone would announce themselves as "blah police station" they would give a name.

so i left it there.

however i have spoken to my housing association today who have confirmed there IS an ASB case against me in regards to this neighbor.
How is she even allowed to raise an ASB against me? She isnt my neighbor anymore and what if i wasnt living within HA anymore?

Im really just pissed at this tbh she made my life hell, i have moved and my life right now is good and now she is trying to get at me again.
I know she is pissed because i told some people on the street when they asked why i was moving i said it was because of her being racist and not leaving me alone so i suspect she has this grudge.

what can i do abotu this?
i have spoken to a solicitor today about taking it to civil court for defamation of character, harassment and and injunction. Im so bored of this woman and i know there is any proof to what she is saying, there cant be

[Alfieisnoisy]

Oh hell, you poor thing, it sounds absolutely crap.

Are you saying you had a fake call from the police too...id it wasn't the police? If so you need to log that with the police and also with the HA as it's just possible your ex neighbour knows someone who knows you and has got information about where you are.

As for the HA, I pity them as they probably have to follow certain procedures when a complaint is made....even though they might know it's rubbish.

What did the solicitor advise?

[WorraLiberty]

How is she even allowed to raise an ASB against me? She isnt my neighbor anymore and what if i wasnt living within HA anymore?

Have you asked the HA?

If not, you need to ring them back and find out.

[sallysmiles]

alfie
i dont think it was a fake call as she has logged with the HA as well im thinking the police as well but the police have nothing on my name but she didnt know my last name so there is a chance the police who searched me arent getting the correct details and i dont know whats going on nobody will tell me anything
The solicitor told me to call back tomorrow to make an appointment for the new year

worra i did and they wont discuss it with me

how can an ex neighbor even log an ASB against me, this makes no sense i live nowhere near her
Im willing to pay the court fees ect this is a joke i cannot believe this is even happening

[Dipankrispaneven]

Seriously, forget defamation proceedings. They cost an absolute fortune (we're talking tens of thousands) and solicitors won't do them on a no-win no-fee basis.

[Alfieisnoisy]

This shouldn't be getting anywhere near a court. If she's making allegations then she has to prove them...she cannot just accuse you of ASB without providing evidence of her accusations.

Likelihood is that the HA has an obligation to investigate it and will ask you your side of the story....at which point you tell them that you live nowhere near her, she has form for this (that's why you moved) and you have had no contact with her since that time.

They will then write to her and tell her the allegations are unfounded. I bet she's a pain in the backside with them.

Did any other neighbours have problems with her or is it simply that she was racist? You sound well shot of her as a neighbour tbh...I bloody hate racists.

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

Your best bet is to talk to the Police. Assuming old neighbour isn't very wealthy I'd forget about defamation.

[sallysmiles]

yes she had issues with the tenant before me who lived there, claimed he harrassed her as well, he was the same race as me.
Funny enough people on that street seemed to think she was a nice woman, she got a few xmas cards i suspect this is why she is annoyed as i exposed her but why wouldnt i? The guy asked me a question i told him the truth.

The solicitor told me i can at least get an injunction which i wont have to pay for so i will do that.
If defamation cost thousands i wont bother. Maybe the injunction will just warn her to leave me be.

I just really hate the fact my HA now think im some abuser or something, when the case was going on the Manager was taking her side a lot even though she had issues with the last guy because she had lived there for years.

[BlueJug]

The thing is if you did indeed tell people in the street that she was a racist, that she was aggressive, that you were moving because of her behaviour that would not make life easy for her on the street after you had gone. She would very much see it as you harassing her if neighbours came to her with reports, (probably exaggerated as that what tends to happen) of all the things that you have said about her. She too might claim "defamation".

Maybe she was banging on the ceiling because she thought you were noisy. We don't know and the police won't know.

It would have been better to have said nothing. Your best course of action would be to play this down not escalate it.

[sallysmiles]

blue, i understand that point, it was the guy across the road saw me moving, i had only been there 7months, he asked why i was moving so soon and i said i was having issues with her and cannot live there, he asked why and i said she was racist to me and made a lot of noise. He said that im the second person who has moved out of there in a few months because of her.
I dont feel why i should be ashamed to hide it, people should know who they are living near, he may of spread it but thats on him.

with the last tenant he was a big male so people probably believed he was the issue but with me im young, was 6months pregnant at the time and 5'3 in height. Im really not a scary person.

dawn, they dont have my address unless the HA told them my address which i suspecting they might do

[EeyoresTail]

How would the police have got your number to call you?
Does your HA have your new number?
Either the ex neighbour complained to the police. She knew you were still with the same HA, told them so they got your number from HA.
Or she complained to the HA so they passed the details onto the police.
This all seems very strange. I would have thought the police would be more likely to see you in person

[Penfold007]

This woman has made a allegation against you and the police have to investigate. They can require you HA to give them your current address. You haven't done anything wrong so why not co-operate with the police? If you force them to arrest you they will take your fingerprints and a DNA sample.
As you have nothing to hide talk to the police, they can't close the case if you refuse.

[BlueJug]

On reflection it would have been better to have said nothing. Why should they "know who they are living with".? How could that benefit anyone?
You and she didn't get on. You are clearly different races so there is the "racism" angle. The more that you accuse her , the more she will accuse you. She has friends there. You said yourself some people took her side so she clearly has good points. I am not saying she wasn't horrible to you but she may have felt that you were not the ideal neighbour either. Neighbour disputes rarely end well and you have my sympathy.

Anyway - still better to calm things down I would say and then you can both live in peace.

[sallysmiles]

the police have my number because when i reported her for harassment i gave it to them.
Im sure the HA cannot pass on my address if no evidence or a warrant or something? isnt that data protection?

I dont see why i should waste my time sitting in the police station over something im 100% sure they have no evidence, i would waste my petrol as i live way away from that area where he asked me to come, my time and need to pay a baby sitter over some rubbish.

maybe they couldnt do anything as this was two weeks ago i got the phonecall from the police and im sure i would of been visited by now, maybe that is why she opened the ASB against me
blue i get what you mean.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

Victim of harassment here - and after a lengthy effort, we did finally get the man arrested, tried and convicted two years ago.

So I know the procedure.

First thing is a warning. They don't have to put it in your hand. They can mail it through the door if they try to serve it and you're out (I seem to recall my harasser claimed to be 'out', the police thought he was there but couldn't get him to answer, so put it through the letter box. I could be mis-remembering as this went on for years, and happened twice).

They have to show a clear 'course of action' so the police tend to warn harassers and only then proceed if the harassment (provably) continues.
I had received over 100 emails by the time I went to the police. Despite the sheer volume of hard evidence, they still had to treat everything that happened prior to my first visit to the police station, as 'one incident'. Even though it was obviously a course of action. But if he sent me one more email - that was it, they would arrest. He did and so they did.

Your alleged victim needs hard evidence and this will be examined in depth by the police, as well as a statement taken, and maybe other evidence gathered, before they issue the warning. Once the warning is issued, the second (or in my case 151st!) bit of harassment then is what triggers them into action.

Different police forces may do this differently, I dunno but my harasser lives at the other end of the country so two police forces had to liaise - my own couldn't make the arrest or question him, it had to be the Met, which is the force where he lives.

Hope that helps.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

Ah yes forgot to say -defamation is civil law not criminal law. You have to bring the case yourself, probably in the High Court. If you engage a solicitor, it would cost tens of thousands, maybe more.

The onus is also on you to prove you have been defamed.

Be careful. If you were calling her a 'racist' in the street - she already has a witness to say you defamed her character. You'd be wise to leave this woman alone, and move on with your life.

[PollysHoliday]

"I called back police who said to me it was likely a prank call because someone would announce themselves as "blah police station" they would give a name."

"i dont think it was a fake call as she has logged with the HA as well im thinking the police as well but the police have nothing on my name but she didnt know my last name so there is a chance the police who searched me arent getting the correct details and i dont know whats going on nobody will tell me"

I'm a bit confused, has your ex-neighbour lodged an allegation against you with the police or not? A complaint to your HA does not automatically mean that a complaint has been made to the police.

If the police are investigating an allegation against you it would be easy enough for them to establish your names and address. They would surely need to speak to you in person in the course of their investigation. It seems unlikely that you are a suspect in an ongoing investigation but haven't been told.

Did you tell the police the name of your ex-neighbour when you asked if an allegation had been made? A search on her name would have probably thrown up the crime report.

I think you need to find out whether you are the suspect of an allegation or not before you do anything else.

[chilledwarmth]

Did the person identify who they were and what police station they worked at when they phoned you? If not it was probably just a prank call. What's an ASB is that like a crime, and if she is accusing you of it why didn't she go to the police and report that sallysmiles has committed ASB.

[Kaytee1987]

My guess is that nothing will come of this, she has no proof at all. Just because she has lodged a complaint doesn't mean it will be taken seriously. My advice is to put it to the back of your mind, I highly doubt the police will come knocking on your door.

[TheCrimsonPleb]

There is no way she will take forward a defamation case. People love to bandy that threat around but it's a load of bullshit as the ordinary person cannot usually afford to follow that route. Don't even worry about that.

This is not as bad you think it is. Just sit tight, don't make any further communication with her and just wait and see what happens - if anything.

A close friend of mine has been in a similar situation although much worse and with a bona fide sociopath gunning for her, the police ended up arresting him for harassment the stupid arse.

[amarmai]

op it's good you made your complaint to the police first. You did nothing wrong in stating that you were moving because of her racist harassment. Her harassment is continuing as she has made a revenge complaint about you , altho you and the previous tenant moved because of her racist behaviour. Can you get in touch with the previous tenant and the two of you consult a lawyer regarding this woman? The HA seems to be willing to divulge your info, so perhaps you can get info too. Sorry you have to waste your time and energy dealing with a person like this. You will make the world a bit better place for all of us to live in as well as feel better because you are standing up for yourself. Is there an equivalent to the Canadian Human Rights Commission in UK? That is how a lot of racist complaints are dealt with here.

[JapaneseSlipper]

This sounds utterly crap - so sorry you are going through this, I know what it's like to live with a black cloud over your head caused by someone else.

I hope you can put it out of your mind until something can be done about it. You've done nothing wrong. Good luck.

[Brioche201]

There is no way she will take forward a defamation case. It is the OP who was thinking of bringing a defamation case not the woman