To think the uni have a duty of care and can't leave a sexual abuser with in a flat with girls

[orangesnapples]

My daughter is on her last year of university and moved back into halls as the last place she was in had some drunk people living next door who would break into the house ( 4 girls one gay guy) and cause quite a bit of stress and left them all feeling unsafe.
With it being the last year, they all felt that they needed some security so as to be able to study feel safe etc and all moved into a apartment in halls together.

They have a new flat mate let's call him A
They have had a few problems such as family visits that take over the flat and communal areas for days on end so daughter ends up eating pot noddles in her room. A will get very drunk and verbally abusive, and occasionally physically threatening.
Last month A had a female visitor, ( very loud verbal sex, banging and screaming ) daughter and friends made some complaints to A dad who basically said I know he's a nightmare but he's not in our house no more so not our problem. DD and pals made complaints with the management team and several times security has been out.
DD called me yesterday in tears. A had a visitor, more loud sex screaming and banging, only this time followed by sounds of fighting, and loud bangs. Then 15 minutes later police smash the door in and drag A out. His visitor was found in the car park battered and bleeding with broken fingers and torn clothes.
Police have bee back and taken statements and one of DD pals gave them a video. Police said A will only be held for 24 hours and university say they can't kick him out of the flat. Police want DD and pals to be witnesses in court but they are all terrified of having to live with him while he knows they are giving evidence against him.
Surly tne university have a duty of care towards the girls. (2 of which are abuse survivors)
Thank you for getting this far. I'm so worried about my girl and her friends.
Is there anything they can do?

I work in a university and I’m surprised they are saying they cannot kick him out of the flat. There will be a code of conduct for students and I would imagine being arrested or charged for a crime especially one that happened on university property would result in immediate eviction and probably expulsion from his course. Is it a university managed halls of residence or is it owned privately? If it’s private this may be why they can’t kick him out. You may need to find out who is the owner/management company and go direct to them.
Also check the student code of conduct.
I would also encourage your daughter to go to the student union reps for help and advice - they should have a well being officer who will be able to help x

It sounds awful. To be totally honest, they can't demand A is moved before he is convicted.

But they should demand to be moved. If the police want them to be witnesses, contact them and say they are scared etc and ask them to insist the university moves them? They may have to split up though.

Lecturer and senate member here. This should be enough to get him suspended from the university or permanently banned. Make sure they complain clearly, in writing, via the proper channels. If they are unsure how to do it, let them ask their senior tutor.
Yes, there are universities that have handled this sort of thing incredibly badly, but that needs to be exposed. The university very definitely has a duty of care.

Have you got the universities code of conduct / tenancy agreement. Chances are he's broken it.

I had very similar at university an older male housemate who would have out of the blue unprovoked violent rages at us (all younger girls he was 27 and huge body builder type). It was terrifying. I went to report it university were utterly useless and did nothing. This was years ago so hope things improved for your dd.

One more thought if they still say that they cannot move him out of the halls then the girls should ask accommodation about moving them instead. If security have been called out numerous times they will have logs of these incidents to back them up etc no one should live in fear x

Quote the relevant sections. I would imagine he needs a suspension from the site pending the outcome.

There should be a formal university complaints procedure - your daughter needs to use it and then the matter will be investigated formally. There may also be a ‘precautionary action’ procedure which could be used to block A from the accommodation and/or university premises while the matter is investigated.

I work in university complaints and I would expect A to be removed from the accommodation and told not to contact the flat mates while the police and uni investigate.

PM me the name of the Uni and I will find the weblink for the procedures if it helps.

Thank you so much for all your reply's

All the advice is great. My DD has a appointment with someone today I will make sure she is up to date with the code of conduct and that she sends emails and includes her student well being and head of department. ( they are all on the same course bar one)
A has received a written warning about 2 weeks ago.
I have no idea how to PM

Ok can't find the code of conduct but they are definitely not apart of the university it's self as they are all over the country

I would also advise you to have her talk to her personal tutor. They are meant to be there to support students through these kinds of situations, and can be a good resource for connecting her to support and advocacy within the university.

I'm so sorry for your DD, I can't imagine how horrible this situation is to live in. Hopefully the university will do something, but until that point I would advise your DD and her friends to stick together and not leave anyone alone in the flat while they are still there with him, and to stay out of the flat if there is no one else home.

Universities inability and reluctance to deal with sexual offences has been all over the news. I'd drop that into the conversation! If the residences are not uni owned they won't care, but the university will! Last thing they want is to be splashed over the front page of the daily mail.

Pm - on mine there are 3 dots at the bottom of a post. If you click these you get options. If you click then on the post of a person you want to Private Mesaage, then click "private message" the box will come up. Does that work?

I must be really out of touch as I didn't realise mixed-sex uni accommodation was a thing at all! My uni hall flats were either all female or all male, we had boys in the flat over the landing (one of whom is now DH) but I would have hated being put together with random males in my flat.

Your DD sounds like she's doing the right things. She should also encourage the other females to do likewise.

Unfortunately all the accommodation locally to me is mixed sex on the basis of'inclusivity'

Incidents like these show why that doesn't work

I feel so sorry for you Dd, something like this happened to my SIL. She moved out as the uni refused to act. They initially chased her for full rent but let it go in the end after getting roasted about lack of duty of care..

If they aren't owned by the university, there is a limit to what they can do, it would be up to the individual landlord. Is it a company with a name beginning with U?

The university may be able to help your daughter and her friends with new accomodation though.

Even if the halls are private the university will still have some sway with them.

University support staff might be supportive and know how to help.

We had this. We were a house of 4 girls, landlord couple. The male would let himself in whenever he wanted, no warning, and would just stand staring if one of us was in a towel etc! We felt on edge constantly. We had so much bother with both of them - eg my room was full of mould, they did nothing and they complained to me when they were showing someone around the house that I hadn't bothered to clear the mould away! I'm sorry but why I gave up trying! University "had a word" but nothing was done, and eventually we only had a few weeks left (2nd year) so we all left, and I dropped out (lots of other issues) but this contributed massively to my hellish time at university.

Yes they should, and can, definitely do more when it's one of their own students.

^ Sorry I meant to say no way as bad as your daughters situation but the man who kept coming in and staring at us, sometimes at night was creepy enough to have us all feeling scared.

Even if the halls are private the university will still have some sway with them.

It depends whether they are a private company contracted to the university, or one of the plethora of private but completely separate companies.

I know that you and your dd justifiably want him out, though it may take a while. However if he says or does anything that in anyway scares or intimidates your dd or her flatmates they can have him arrested for witnesse tampering. If he gets bail for that it will be with a non mol order and he won't be allowed in the flat

If it’s a private company then the university is unlikely to have any sway unless it is under contract to them. However, he is likely to have broken his tenancy agreement so complain to the management company as well as the usual university channels. Someone has responsibility for managing their safety.

That's awful. I can't believe there are no single sex halls anymore. No wonder they are having so many problems with sexual assaults by students then.

Retired lecturer. He can be removed by the university with immediate effect.