Neighbour’s ‘booby traps’ and MH

[scaredneighbour]

Not an AIBU, posting here for traffic as I’ve posted briefly about it before in chat under my main name but it got no responses. I’ve never experienced anything like this and am incredibly concerned for my neighbour’s mental state and well-being. I need some advice on what to do next and who to contact. Enviromental health are already involved but I haven’t shown them the ‘booby trap’ yet.

They are an older couple who don’t work or rarely ever leave the house, roughly aged 60-70. I know that they are alcoholics from my neighbour the other side who mentioned they make their own wine and I have seen them stood out in the street with wine glasses, sat out on the front with beers etc during the day on weekdays. Their glass bin is always absolutely full to the brim of wine and beer bottles on collection day. How much they drink is none of my business but I’m just worried for them. They have been aggressive and hostile towards me on a few occasions. Banging on my door and slurring words about ridiculous complaints, e.g. asking me to move my car from outside my own house on a public road because it’s ‘obstructing their view’, about 3yo DD playing quietly in the back garden during day time etc. I’ve only smiled and said hello a few times in passing in the whole 3 years I’ve lived here so there’s nothing to incite their behaviour towards me. I try my best to avoid them as they do terrify me a bit and seem very unpredictable.

They are very paranoid and scared of something or someone. They never have any visitors (I work from home so am in most of the time) so don’t have support, even at Christmas I’ve never seen anyone come near their house. They have 3 cameras on the front of their house, 3 on the back and one pointing down the shared driveway down the back of the terrace. They have multiple security lights that could light a whole football pitch. We live in a nice quiet area and never get any trouble. Most recently though they have added as me and family can only describe as make shift booby traps. I was confused about the glass panels they’ve recently added but then I realised they’ve put them up to hide the main part of the booby trap from me and the council. They were in the front garden when EH turned up about their dog noise so they knew what was going on. They installed the glass panels the day after EH visited. I’ll let the photos explain as I really can’t! Do I contact the police or some sort of charity for older people? I’m currently 6 months pregnant and I do kind of fear for my own safety if they are so paranoid. DH mentioned that if they have all of that security and are that fixated then they could have weapons in the house, even maybe a gun. I honestly don’t know what to do! My house is rented so should I at the very least tell my landlord? The blurry pic shows the booby trap which is a block of wood extended out of the fence with nails sticking directly up outwards so if someone were to put their hand on it getting over the wall it would cut them. It’s shoddy quality as I’ve zoomed in to respect their privacy. As you can tell from the pics they’ve also put huge rocks on top of my wall for some reason

You are blowing all of this out of proportion. In the space of this thread you've accused them of putting up booby traps (when they're perfectly legal deterrents); being alcoholics (because you saw them drink wine during the day and you think there are too many wine bottles in their bin) ; encroaching past their boundary into your garden. You keep adding on imagined slights and illegalities.
Do you suffer from anxiety? Your preoccupation with finding issues with your neighbours sounds very stressful.
If the wooden plank with spikes is on your side of the boundary, then just remove it if it worries you . But lots of gardens and open ground have wooden planks with nails sticking out. I stood on one once and lived to tell the tale.

viques that thought had crossed my mind too

I think the paranoid ones are you and your husband.

If a cat was injured by their nails on the wooden block then wouldn’t they be liable to pay the vet bills?

No idea, but how does this impact on you? You've said you don't have a cat.

If you're worried for the he poor little moggies, move the wood. Simple.

But if you really are worried about the illegality, speak to the police.

I actually think you should see the GP about your anxiety and maybe move housem

I can see no real reason other than to hide their contraption from the council visiting me

Just put up a massive fence and be done with it. Report any harassment e.g. banging on your door to the police on 101. You can't do anything else.

I think they may have been burgled in the past, possibly by someone climbing over the fence. They may have been told to install some of their security devices by their insurance company.

Being burgled is enough to make anyone paranoid.

What contraption?

I'm not sure why you're calling it a booby trap. They've put spikes on their fence to keep cats / burglars out.

It doesn't affect you at all. I'd just leave them to it.

The 'contraption' is the pale block of wood the other side of the fence.

Apparently it's got nails sticking up out of it and the glass panels are to stop the council seeing it (from the OP's upstairs window, hanging half out, with a zoom lens). But this would also act to prevent it being of any use as anyone trying to get over the wall would not try there due to the glass panels, so they would just try a bit further along.

Anyone trying to get over that wall would need to be in the OP's garden first, of course.

I'm struggling to see how this affects you.

It's not a trap and you do seem slightly obsessed, OP. I would drop this.

Was it you who complained to the Council about the dog noise, you'll have to declare that if you sell the house.

All I can see is a god awful breeze block built wall with fencing behind, anti gull spikes and some rubber/plastic smaller spikes ( all legal ) and a block of wood on the next doors patio.

Batshit!

Hi, I am new on here so I hope this helps - those "spikes", as someone has already mentioned" are only plastic - most of the shops and premises in the High Street of our village have them to stop the pigeons and other birds nesting - they cause so much damage to and around the properties. They will also deter cats so maybe they are killing two birds (no pun intended) with one stone? It seems that they are just an old, maybe cantankerous but maybe fragile, elderly couple who don't seem to have any family or friends around them or who look after their welfare - why don't you ask them in for a cup of tea or take a cake around to them - introduce yourself as a friend and see if they need any help. It may be worth a try and you may be surprised at finding a lovely but vulnerable couple. Hope I haven't come across too harsh.

Cats kill birds, it’s part and parcel of natural life

It’s actually not though. Cats are foreign imports not natural British predators. They have a horrendous effect on our native wildlife.

I hate the buggers. But I do think putting spikes on a wall is cruel.

I think you should see your GP about anxiety and paranoia TBH.

I can see it’s a big odd (although it’s quite clearly to stop cats/pigeons/rats) the glass panels do look strange but I imagine they put them there to 1, stop someone hurting themselves if they put their hand on the wall and 2, so that it wouldn’t obstruct your view which using a wooden panel would.

You sound like you are really upsetting yourself about this. Do you think there might be something else going on with you? Do you have anything else going on that is maybe making you fixate on this rather than the real issue?

Sorry if I’m way off the mark and you are genuinely concerned but honestly it’s nothing for you to worry about.
The leap from the cat spikes to a gun is really odd and I wonder if your DH is upsetting you either on purpose or he thinks it’s funny?

If your cat (or dog, or any other animal) is injured whilst off your property, there is no recourse in law unless it was a deliberate act of cruelty.

Your neighbours may well have been burgled - I have (in a very naice area) and become a bit over the top about security. No harm done to anyone.

Also did you really look in their blue bin?!

Well this is wild first post for me to read. I can see exactly where you’re coming from OP and they sound utterly unhinged and verging on a liability to their neighbours and visitors. I think she mentioned their alcohol consumption as she is clearly concerned for their well-being and the alcohol could be clouding their judgement. Sounds like all they do is drink and attach weird things to your boundary.

I can’t see how she would be invading their property by taking photos of what can be seen OP’s house. It’s not like she’s out there on a ladder with her phone over their fence. Please forward those photos to your landlord and enviromental health. It would be worth speaking to a PCSO for some advice if you feel unsafe. If I were you I’d be running for the hills! It’s completely ridiculous the attach glass to the fence like that it looks very unstable. What if we have bad weather and the glass gets smashed all over OPs garden. It could injure her small child. If it isn’t for intruders then I would not want to live next to people who think it’s acceptable to injure and possibly kill cats or other animals. They seem vile if I’m honest. I wonder why no one visits them at Christmas! It might be worth checking the database if they have such excessive security and no visitors. Their family could very well not see them for good reason. Google their names if you know them and if not it’s easy to find on 192.com. One of them could have committed a crime in the past and be trying to protect themselves from harassment. I would feel very uneasy living next to people with so many security cameras. I don’t think you can comment on OP taking pics of their garden when they’ve probably got a CCTV camera overlooking hers by the sound of it and can see all her comings and goings through the other cameras on the front

If a cat was injured by their nails on the wooden block then wouldn’t they be liable to pay the vet bills?

No. Because it's on their property.

you'll have to declare that if you sell the house.

She rents. And you only have to declare actual disputes, not a single complaint to the council.

Jeez. Checking databases?

They may have put this stuff on the wall to keep their dog in rather than just cats out.
I would put some trellis on your side to you can't see any of their stuff.
Out of sight out of mind.

You are the ones who sound an issue.

My parents could fit with a certain number of the things you've written.
They make wine: Tick
They sometimes drink it during the day: Tick
My dad has occasionally had a beer after doing the gardening, and drank it outside: Tick
They have security measures: Tick
They don't often have visitors: Tick
They have cat prevention methods: Tick.

Let's go through this:
They make wine
It's a hobby. They pick fruit and make it into wine. It's nice wine. They haven't perfected cider yet, but I think they're trying again. They usually have one on the go, makes a most irritating plop noise if it's in your room overnight. They give most of it away, including supplying a local church with some communion wine.

They sometimes drink it during the day
Usually with a meal. But if they're getting ready to bottle they may take a glass out into the garden and discuss, while drinking a single glass each, whether it's ready.

My dad has occasionally had a beer after doing the gardening, and drank it outside
Any objections? It's not frequent. And if it's in a glass/tankard then it's shandy made with a good 50% lemonade.

They have security measures
Well, I'll be the first to admit that my parents are a little over security conscious. However they are one of the few houses in their village that hasn't been burgled by the lovely (actually they were lovely when i was at school with them, not sure what happened) brothers. Not sure if that's because they're afraid of df or they're trying to avoid being caught. They don't do a brilliant job of the latter because everyone knows it's them. But they're so used to the security they have that I'm certain that if they moved they would keep the same methods.

They don't often have visitors
Let's face it, they're not exactly in an area where people can drop in. So it needs to be arranged. And more easily for both people, they'll usually arrange to meet somewhere nice to because they like seeing new places, somewhere where they can share the travel.

They have cat prevention methods
They have bird attraction methods. They're in an area surrounded by cats. Df doesn't like cats. So they have a garden set up to be a bird haven with lots of feeders and plants for them.
Actually me df's favoured method is a water pistol. He's good with it., one fire at their feet and they're off. He rarely uses it now. He only has to cock it, and the cats know what it means and leave. Hurriedly. But cats are actually pretty smart. They avoid his garden now for the most part, he rarely sees a cat in there.
I'd rather have them as a neighbour than you who seems to think working from home = time to spy on the neighbours for gossiping.