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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

WWYD nuisance photographer

56 replies

behiveandbuzzoff · 22/02/2019 13:27

A random man wandered onto site at my work last week and started filming/photographing. When a colleague informed him it was private land he dispute this, the police were called in but ultimately nothing happened as the police were unsure of where the boundary to public land and our site begins.

My colleague asked him 'not to be a prick' during the encounter which enraged the man who then posted the video on YouTube. The video has gone viral in our area and my colleague is embarrassed and worried.

The mans YouTube channel is full of videos of him turning up in random places, acting shady, the police being called in and then ultimately nothing happening (except police time being wasted). That was until last week when he tried to film a local school and local prison and was finally arrested.

Now he's claiming he will keep returning to our work and it's got me nervous as I walk to work, often in the early hours. He seems unhinged in his video rants. WWYD? I don't have anyone to walk me to work and I fear my colleagues would laugh if I asked them to give me a lift when I live only a 2 minute walk away. Also I have DC in a nearby school which has got me paranoid for their safety.

OP posts:

butteryellow · 22/02/2019 14:40

But in the meantime do remember the "creepy old man" outside your kid's school is statistically about 99.9% less likely to abuse them than their own father/uncle is.

That's rather a mis-representation of statistics. Yes, a person is more likely to be abused by a family member, than a random in the street - but this isn't a random in the street, this is a person taking pictures of children at a school, for no reason he's admitting to other than that he wants to. I bet if we took a survey of men taking pictures of other people's children for no reason they'd admit to, it would have a high percentage of 'creepy dudes' who aren't doing it for innocent reasons.

Original poster

behiveandbuzzoff · 22/02/2019 14:40

@bbehiveandbuzzoff well there are wall posters and announcements regarding luggage.

But a wall poster doesn't amount to law does it? You're not under any legal obligation to report suspicious luggage. It's not illegal to leave luggage lying around. Thereby according to your rational a crime hasn't been committed and you would assume everyone is operating within the confines of the law and do nothing.

PM me your address and I'll send him your way with his camera. Clearly you have every confidence in his mental capacity and you can invite him in for a chin wag about how he is being victimized.

OP posts:

Chelseajunior · 22/02/2019 14:43

I'm with you OP, I doubt these odd posters would like someone taking photos/recording their children at school.

Always trust your gut. Don't assume everyone is nice.
Bizzare behaviour!

SerenDippitty · 22/02/2019 14:44

I felt a bit sorry for the birdwatchers in this case who happened to be outside a school.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/birdwatchers-questioned-police-after-trying-15730450

PlainSpeakingStraightTalking · 22/02/2019 14:48

PM me your address and I'll send him your way with his camera. Clearly you have every confidence in his mental capacity and you can invite him in for a chin wag about how he is being victimized.

I deal with Deprivation of Liberty patients every day - Im probably a smidgeon more up on what to do with people with MH issues and al ack of capacity than you www.scie.org.uk/mca/dols/at-a-glance sometimes they go for a Section instead.

MammaMia19 · 22/02/2019 14:48

The replies on here are weird! I'd be the same as you if this happened in my place of work and I would not want some random (male or female) recording my kids school. I really wouldn't want anyone filming me for YouTube and i would find it embarrassing
Do you have a hr, can they not put some security in to stop him doing this?
If he turns up again I would call the police as it is harassment.

hellenbackagen · 22/02/2019 14:53

op
im a police officer and i get exactly where you are coming from.

he doesnt sound like he lacks capacity he sounds like he has a massive chip on his shoulder and it making a massive nuisance of himself.

if he comes back call 999. he will likely wind himself up enough to commit a public order offence and police only take so much goading before putting an end to that kind of nonsense.

he could be harassing the site owner or you or he could be breaching the peace. he sounds like an absolute pain in the arse tbh.

hellenbackagen · 22/02/2019 14:54

does he have a specific beef with your company?

Jaxhog · 22/02/2019 14:57

Not everyone who behaves in an annoying way has an MH issue. Some people are just naturally CFs.

Original poster

behiveandbuzzoff · 22/02/2019 15:00

Thanks Chelseajunior

You see it all the time on here.

People like HaventGotAllday and Plainspeaking have no desire to offer real helpful advice, they conveniently ignore or downplay suspicious behaviour/genuine feelings of concern and instead nitpick comments in an attempt to belittle and shame me.

I stated this man was arrested for carrying an offensive weapon and has admitted to filming outside a school for no reason. Most people would at least slightly be concerned but they ignore this info and try to grill me on my definition of creepy looking etc.

I wonder when their next university course on trolling techniques for perfect people will be available.

OP posts:

PrivacyPolicyYeahRight · 22/02/2019 15:02

Oh FFS ignore the idiots on here who are oh so cool about such things. The man was a wanker. He makes a hobby out of filming people just because it can. It is completely unacceptable behaviour socially. It puts people on edge and makes them feel uncomfortable. This is his AIM. He deserved to be told not to be an arsehole. He does this to get a reaction, well he got one. Lucky him.

Honestly I would imagine his very real brush with the law may well make him pipe down for a while now OP. I wouldn’t worry. Perhaps as a team have some kind of plan in place for if he comes back. If a rational plan, with pre planned, reasonable responses is put together then you will all feel less vulnerable.

Lumbricina · 22/02/2019 15:03

I find it really weird that some posters are going out of their way to defend a bloke who is clearly trying to make other people feel uncomfortable, while having a go at the OP for feeling uncomfortable .

Juells · 22/02/2019 15:04

Most people would at least slightly be concerned but they ignore this info and try to grill me on my definition of creepy looking etc.

Exactly. And focus on the fact that you said it was a man.

Original poster

behiveandbuzzoff · 22/02/2019 15:13

Wow you have this wealth of knowledge which could be applicable to this scenario and yet have offered no advice? Such as - don't engage this person if you are concerned they have MH issues, raise your concerns with the appropriate authority.

Isn't that the purpose of MN, to offer help and support to each other? You apparently have potentially relevant experience pertaining to this situation but instead of offering up that relevant experience in the form of advice, you choose sarcastic comments, minimizing my concerns and trying to turning suspicious activity into victimization in an attempt to make me feel shame?

Clearly you think you have no intentions to offer help, but instead come on MN to look down on people for cheap thrills.

OP posts:

HaventGotAllDay · 22/02/2019 15:17

I am nitpicking about the OP's ageism and disablism tbh. And yes, OP, you should be ashamed for both of them.

hellenbackagen · 22/02/2019 15:21

i want to live in this world where people just arent ever arseholes because they can be and MUST be in some way incapacitated by mental health issues .

op.
to counter the above i deal with annoying random acts of fuckwittery also on a daily basis due to my chosen profession and i can assure you that in my experience only very few have genuine medical reasons for doing so.
most are just arseholes because they are arseholes.

comedycentral · 22/02/2019 15:23

Why are the replies so odd and rude? MN is so weird.

OP I feel for you and your colleague. Just out at work getting on and earning a living and you are having to deal with confrontational idiots.

Original poster

behiveandbuzzoff · 22/02/2019 15:24

Thanks for the advice from PP re forming a plan and how to respond the next time.

We heven't discussed this yet as a site (our comms mtg was postponed this week), but most of my colleagues are too busy ribbing our colleague on the YouTube video (especially when he apologizes to the man). I was just told he was outside some of our suppliers facilities yesterday making a further nuisance of himself. I hope he stops soon and finds an alternative hobby.

OP posts:

Original poster

behiveandbuzzoff · 22/02/2019 15:33

HaventGotAllDay

Where was I ageist? Is it ageist to call a 62 year old arrested man old?
Where was the disablism? There's no info in my PP that he was disabled. That was unfounded speculation on your part.

It's you that should be ashamed that you dedicate so much time to belittling instead of helping people. Grow up!

OP posts:

Gilead · 22/02/2019 15:39

Whilst I understand your concerns behive, you could perhaps have phrased them a little better. haven'tgot was referring to you calling him a nut job. That is disablism. I have had people calling my son that too as he has gross motor tics. It's not kind or pleasant and a little forethought would stop posts being (quite reasonably) derailed by people who work and live with people with disabilities.

MQv2 · 22/02/2019 15:44

The best thing to do with these guys is ignore them.
YouTube first amendment audit (I appreciate that it's American/ love police and Charlie veitch would be a good UK equivalent ) and you'll get an idea of what they're about.

They are looking for people (preferably law enforcement or private security) to wrongly command them to stop filming in public so that they can then take the high road and show up people trying to abuse their authority and command citizens to desist from doing something they're legally allowed to do.

If you ignore them and nobody tells them to stop filming then they have no content for they're channels and will get bored and move on.

MQv2 · 22/02/2019 15:46

Also get the company to make the deeds available to the police so that they are aware of where the boundary line is and where is public land or land to which the public have a right of access.
Then they can be certain in telling him to leave private property or to inform you if he's filming on public land which he is allowed to do and is not obliged to provide an explanation for

hellenbackagen · 22/02/2019 15:47

actually the ignore idea would actually work to fuck him off much quicker.
or a cheery wave as walk past. dont engage in conversation at any point. that will give him exactly the attention he craves.

WildFlower2019 · 22/02/2019 15:57

He sounds like a complete attention seeking wind up merchant to me, doing it for the YouTube lols.

I'd be tempted to tell everyone at work to completely ignore him. Don't so much as shoot a dirty look in his direction. Let him walk wherever he wants.

I give it three days before he gets bored and finds a new bunch of people to try and annoy.

JuniperBeer · 22/02/2019 16:01

What kind of site are you in? Do you need passes or codes or IF to get in or is it somewhere like a dentist/retail?

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