AIBU to be furious that this isn’t illegal?

[YetAnotherHastyNameChange]

During Covid myself and another few mums in my area have been visiting and delivering food parcels to elderly people whose families have been unable to visit. During this time I’ve made some really good friends with some of the old ladies and now the dc are back at school I’ve been still visiting a couple of them to help out and have a catch up and chat with them.

One particular lady is really lovely, absolutely hilarious but quite frail and her house really is a tip. Her family who live a distance away pay for a cleaner to go in weekly but as the lady is always there she never lets the cleaner actually do much other than the bathroom and all the books and stuff she’s hoarded for years is still piled up everywhere. A couple of weeks ago her family collected her and took her back to their house now restrictions have eased and booked the cleaner to go in as normal but hoping she could throw a few bits out - really not important things but there’s stacks of magazines from the 90’s, endless Tupperware that doesn’t match and the owner really won’t notice when she returns.

Anyway, cleaner goes in a discovers lots of things have been moved around so phones family to see if it’s them. It’s not them but they find out some internet blogger who visits ‘abandoned places’ has broken in somehow, dressed up in her clothes, sat on her bed, took loads of photos of all her possessions and posted it all online as a ‘time capsule house’. Family contact police who claim no laws have been broken as there’s no sign of a break in and he is claiming to have been invited in. Lady is now hugely embarrassed as everyone has seen what a mess she lives in and is refusing to come home again.

Having looked at this mans page he’s been going all round my local area and letting himself into people’s caravans, abandoned schools, loads of houses which he claims are abandoned but quite possibly just second homes that haven’t been visited for a while, taking photos in through people’s windows of houses that are clearly lived in, going into farms and photographing all the barns with animals, machinery that could be stolen, broke into a Victorian cinema that is currently being rebuilt by volunteers but is in a dodgy area so will now almost certainly just get trashed.

How is this not illegal? Why is he allowed to do this? So many people have complained on his page that he’s been in their barn/ photographing their dining room while they were out etc. and he just blocks them from the page.

He’s getting loads of views on these pages so more and more people are going to start doing this, surely? I find it outrageous behaviour and can’t believe the police won’t intervene.

[MotherOfGodWeeFella]

I've posted know - he hasn't even had the good grace to be truthful. We've taken the OP's post in good faith and he's doing nothing that suggests she hasn't told the truth.

[MotherOfGodWeeFella]

I've screenshot my comments on his FB page because I fully expect him to delete them and block me.

[babbaloushka]

He's using a well known liars tactic in distorting the story to make it seem outrageous. Hopefully these "haters" can get him held to the account of the law.

[PussGirl]

I've been banned for commenting that entering properties that were not abandoned while the owner was away was not what urban exploring was about

tosser

[MotherOfGodWeeFella]

My comments have been deleted and I now cannot post.

[giletrouge]

Commenting on his page is not going to get anyone anywhere. And there are filthy idiots egging him on. But - with the number of us here - what else would work? Could we gather enough of us to report him to the police that they'd feel they had to take some action, for instance?

[Xenia]

There are lots of good legal reasons the law does not allow this even for unoccupied property, not least because someone might fall over or hurt themselves and then sue.

[namesnamesnamesnames]

That's very sad and very shocking. Poor poor lady. Shortly it's trespass?

[PussGirl]

I found the teacup picture on his Insta & put a comment - expect that'll be removed too

[CassandrasCastle]

Me too!

[Appledrop]

Hopefully the OP has print screened enough of his pages before he took them down? I see lots of people egging him on, on his page which doesn't help. Could we all report his page to facebook and have the whole thing taken down?? Do the same for insta and youtube? As people have said commenting amounts to nothing as he just deletes and blocks. Yes he might make new pages but he'll have to start from scratch so that's something. Just a thought.

[TheQueef]

He's asking for it.
I sooo wish there were a legal way we could give it.

[Cornettoninja]

I’m really surprised people are saying that it’s not illegal to enter someone’s home if they can just walk in. I had someone walk into my house through an unlocked door in the middle of the night a few years ago and he was given a community service sentence. He didn’t do anything and ran off when I confronted him so nothing was damaged or taken

The police told me that my insurance would have been probably been void but they had grounds for prosecution. I can’t remember what exactly he was charged with unfortunately.

[StrugglingWFH]

He isn't even banning people...just preventing them from being able to comment! What a coward.

[RightOnTheEdge]

I had commented about him breaking into the National Trust property and now I can't post.
Has he taken those photos down too? I can't see them anymore.
He doesn't have many likes or comments on any of his posts he'll have none left if he keeps banning everyone.

[Nocomment1]

The birdman adventures name and shame he breaks into peoples homes!

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

so many of his supporters only in type in lowercase and end all their comments in lol lol

[AryaStarkWolf]

Disgusting and of course it should be illegal, can't believe it isn't especially since he posted pictures online as well which is a massive invasion of privacy and how violated and unsafe that poor woman must feel

[CassandrasCastle]

I have seem enough crying with laughter emojis on that page to last me a lifetime 🤯

[RainbowRaine]

Can anyone not already blocked point out that he was the one himself, who posted the pictures of him doing so.

[grantoderek]

This made me tearful, both for the lady and that there are communities with people as lovely as you still in existence.

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

@Francescaisstressed

Just a heads up but this thread is being shared on the abandoned places UK page - not sure who amde them aware - to highlight what he was doing is wrong and he's starting to be ostracised by his community, so hopefully hell now get some repercussions!

Good!

Serves the bugger right!

What a horrible thing to do to a vulnerable old person - or to anyone fr that matter.

[Avonandice]

He may have removed the National Trust pictures from his face book but the are still on his instagram.

[Avonandice]

Wonder how you report it to the National Trust?

[Xenia]

The National Trust would be interested.

There are by the way properties on moorland known as "bothies" - we have them in Northumberland for example where hikers can stay free of charge. They are left open and you can spend the night there if no one else is. They tend to be at the end of long tracks so you need to be fairly fit to use them. They are an example where the landowner has given permission for someone to enter the premises.