Or is my neighbour weird

[aliceinchunderland1]

Not my direct neighbour but our back garden backs on to his driveway. Since we moved in 2.5 years ago he's always been overly interested in what we're doing, will speak to us through the fence in the garden at any given opportunity, ask quite personal and nosey questions when doing so, he somehow (and I have absolutely no clue how) knows what my husband does for work and WHERE he works (we are very private people, don't really talk to any neighbours). He makes me feel quite uncomfortable, I cant put my finger on why but he just does, he's quite an intimidating character. We have been burgled twice since we've lived here, as have about 20 other houses on our street (just garages broken in to and the odd door lock picking attempt) but his house has never been tried. He also brings up the burglaries in conversation at very random times (when peeping through our garden fence etc and he always mentions it first). We've added height to the fences so he can no longer see through as easily, but it doesn't stop him trying. He also sent a tree surgeon to my house to enquire about chopping the top off of a tree at the end of my garden, he didn't speak to us before he arranged for them to visit so I just politely declined and said the tree was fine as it. This afternoon I've had a visit, literally seconds after I got home from work, from a man I have never seen before saying 'i've spoken to your Dad about some flooring' (it's just me and DH living here) and 'I'm certain it's this address i've got a text to confirm it'. I was clueless so sent him away, only he drove further in to the cul-de-sac rather than out of it. 15 mins passed and he still hadn't driven back out of the road so I took the dog for a walk to see where he'd got to, and low and behold he's parked on my strange neighbours drive talking to him. AIBU to think he's sent this person to my house for some reason and is just a bit of an oddball in general (it's not like the house numbers could have been mixed up, we are number 5, he is number 32)? I'm thinking of popping round there later on to ask who the 'flooring man' was and why he stopped at my house?

Omg the more you update, the more worried I am for you. I'd actually get down to the police station and tell them every little thing, see if they find it suspicious and then it's all on record if anything else happens.
Keep a record of everything.

It sounds very much like he's behind the robberies!

I will keep records of everything, thank you all. DH and I are going to have dinner in the garden tonight and talk about our lovely imaginary weekend away this weekend.

I have just seen our one man band, very much unknown in this town, plumber drive past my house. I have an odd feeling he has been called in to do some work by SNM . Very odd as the only way to get hold of this chap or even know he's a plumber is by knowing him. Maybe SNM has seen his car at our house before. (Now I think I'm going nuts)

Best way to learn everything about someone is to steal the occasional bag of trash put out at the street. People tend not to shred at home and there are bills, letters, cards, school information, payslips, etc.

by the way, its not stealing once its put out to the street its fair game for anyone to take.

Marking my place. This is so weird OP I am genuinely worried for you both. How many weeks pregnant are you? I'd feel even more worried with a tiny baby in tow definitely let the police at least know that something fishy is going on.

He (or anyone else) very easily could have stolen a bag of rubbish from the drive on bin night. Cameras do pick up these things but it’s possible we’ve not checked the motion alert in the morning. I’m ashamed to say we don’t shred! Only rip the letters up but fat lot of good that is really. I’m only 10 weeks Malibeau but I’d like to get to the bottom of this before little babe arrives, i don’t want creepy visitors when I’m alone with baby at home!

This is really creepy.

I'm betting low tech trash theft. It almost always goes undiscovered as who would miss it? Most assume bin men binned it as expected. Nowadays there are all the computer printouts of holiday ideas, email conversations, things to buy, etc. and with two people most bags probably have an entire week's worth of information in there. Same is true for all the neighbours, so easy to decide who to rob and when.

Does he have a job OP?

I agree with a PP that he could be part of a burglary gang and is arranging them to happen to his neighbours without physically doing it himself.

I'm surprised this 'flooring' guy would hang around and go straight back to weird neighbour after only just conversing with OP if they were really planning burglary. Not subtle at all

I'm freaked out just by reading this! Bless you, it must be horrible. I'd write everything down, like a rough timeline, and if you are really worried I'd let the police know about it sooner rather than later.

There are some bloody weirdos out there!

If you own your property he could have downloaded a copy of your title information document from the Land Registry. It’s only a few pounds and you can view anyone’s. It will also have your mortgage details and that of any other secured loans, if any.

Does 'nice' neighbour chat too much? Maybe passes info on to creepy neighbour without thinking?

To find out where he might be getting information, if you think house might be bugged, have a conversation with different details in different places.

e.g. In garden - 'Can't wait to go away this weekend, Yorkshire is supposed to have lovely coutryside'. In the house, talk about Scarborough. Email somone about a specific hotel in Scarborough. Talk to neighbours about visiting a nearby place to see your brother. All made up of course, and if he gets multiple parts of the story, it will still add up. Later, you can see which bits, if any, that he knows about and therefore track down where you are being overheard.

Oh Shit OP I so feel for you !! how did tea in the garden go? I defo think what susieintheshoeshineshop said is a very good idea!! it sounds as this man is obsessed with you/your family!!

Any recent developments OP?

Creepy

OP that sounds quite sinister. Stay safe.

If this was a film plot I would seriously advise you to ditch the 'nice' chatty neighbour, they are clearly in cahoots with the creepy neighbour who is dodgy as fuck.

You need to find the most antisocial half alcoholic shunned neighbour, they will be a treasure trove of neighbourly secrets.
After some tearful pleading and with the help of your adorable dogs you will convince this outcast to have a stakeout/spy on your behalf and thus bring down the criminal and be hailed as Queen of the Cul-de-sac!
Just in time to have an adorable baby 😊

Sorry,,, that happened.

Seriously you should phone the non emergency police and voice your concerns, his behaviour is questionable and I never ignore my gut feelings about someone.

Also worth knowing that some Bluetooth headphones are capable of picking up conversations in a neighbouring house when their tv is on. One of my friends has a pair to help hear the tv better, and can hear very clearly their neighbours & tv through the headphones.

No updates?

Hi all, no updates really. Had a few dinners in the garden and made up some days out/overnight trips but nothing strange has happened. Did actually go away for a few days abroad and my mum house/dog sat and said she didn't see creepy neighbour at all which is VERY unusual! She joked that maybe he'd followed us abroad

Had a gathering at the weekend at nice neighbours house with some other people from the lane who we hadn't met before, I asked if creepy neighbour man would be attending and they made it fairly clear he wasn't invited so I don't think they would share info with someone they aren't keen on?