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.

[PenfoldPenny]

Thats appalling.

[ChekhovsWorkshoppedShooter]

Yes there are civil remedies if you have access to a lawyer or could DIY: you could potentially get an injunction and damages. It’s just not a criminal matter for the police.

[cerealgamechanger]

Who is this bastard blogger?!

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

@queenMab99

I commented on a similar face book video, that as there was no dust on the sufaces, even though the furniture, clothes and carpets were old fashioned, it was obviously cared for, and possibly lived in. I suggested they renamed the page 'Nosey young men breaking in and disrespecting peoples homes' however my comment was immediately deleted.

Brilliant comment, @queenMab99!

@YetAnotherHastyNameChange - can you link to the page, so we can all go on and tell this person what an arsehole they are?

[JollyAndBright]

Any proper urban explorer would never do this kind of shit.

Just because he claims he didn’t break in doesn’t mean he didn’t break the law.

Most urban explorers will film their entry into abandoned places so that they have evidence of not breaking and entering, I’m assuming he did this which is why the police are not pursuing it.

Trespassing is only illegal in certain circumstances, schools, government buildings and train tracks, etc,
usually trespassing just considered a civil matter, however, physical interference of private property, is illegal under the interference with Goods Act 1977,
which is why most urban explorers avoid touching things unless it’s just moving things slightly to set up a for a photo.

Honestly in their situation I would be pressing the police to pursue criminal interference of goods charges and also possible theft charges, because how are you supposed to know didn’t steal anything.
His videos will 100% show that he wasn’t invited in, that’s such an easy to disprove lie.

I’d also be pursuing civil action against him demanding the photos and videos are permanently deleted, remove from the internet and claiming monetary damages.

I say all of this as someone who does urban exploring and finds what has been done here utterly disgusting.

[exwhyzed]

It's creepy and I bet there aren't many women doing it. It's clearly intended to cause people to feel uncomfortable. It's a power thing like catcalling, flashing or men just plain old following women knowing it makes them uncomfortable.

The more notice and reaction they get for doing it the more they get off on it. They should be ignored.

[Tambora]

@eurochick

Was he invited in or not?

No, the OP says that the elderly lady was staying with family at the time.

[covilha]

If he is taking photographs in an area local people would know of the properties of vulnerable people, how is this not a safeguarding concern? Do his photos make the contents clear and does his blog indicate that entry was straight forward? Would this be more appropriate for social services to investigate as it seems that some of these people may be quite valuable?

[Anotherlovelybitofsquirrel]

That's disgusting. Name him. See how he likes the backlash the nasty little shit

[Thesearmsofmine]

This is horrible, the poor lady must be so upset that someone has been in her home and through her things.
I have seen a few urban explorers sharing photos of local abandoned buildings which can be interesting but never homes that are still lived in.

[Sweetpeasaremadeforbees]

I think name and shame is the way forward here. Just make their lives hell.

Personally I think trespass should be made a criminal offence. As a civil offence who the hell do you report it to? Do you call the police and hope they'll turn up and force the person to give their details so that you can pursue a civil case later?

[SpringItIsThen]

This story took a turn I wasn't expecting. Does she live in the middle of nowhere? How did this blogger randomly mark this particular house as abandoned if she has neighbours? For how long was she (the owner) gone and how did this blogger know to come at the time she was gone?

I agree the situation should be illegal but it just doesn't add up yet.

[youshallnotpass9]

I would be looking into civil law for this, much better to hit them in the pocket. Also depending on what social media site they are on. Get the family and anyone else you know to complain to them (I assume youtube or instagram) it takes a while but if enough people complain, then they will take at least the photos down, if not suspend the person.

Make sure you link the page to your local social media page, so people are aware as well.

[EverythingRuined]

How strange. How on earth did the family find the blogger? Did someone tip them off. Its extremely weird that the police are accepting he as invited in? That doesn’t make any sense at all.

It’s such a weird situation.

[YetAnotherHastyNameChange]

She definitely didn’t invite him in but equally he left no signs of how he’d broken in and hadn’t taken anything, just moved it about and photographed it. Whenever he’s questioned about it he claims he was invited in or if he’s on farmland claims he got lost 🙄.

I’m in Devon, he’s mostly done it around here but has posted some stuff of other places too but it’s not clear whether that’s actually him. Police did make one post on their FB page reminding people to lock doors as there had been complaints but that’s it.

[2bazookas]

I can't believe his break-ins and abuse of residents' privacy/security are not illegal.

If you can collate all the online evidence of his activity, forward it to local police, your local MP, and your local paper.

The tripartite action plan should produce results.

[YetAnotherHastyNameChange]

Some of his photos are of genuinely abandoned places - schools or hospitals which I can see as being genuinely interesting although I still think it’s pretty outrageous that he just breaks in. A lot of them are just old people’s houses though which are a bit of a state and he just lets himself in. This particular photo absolutely infuriated me as it’s clearly just someone’s home that he’s decided to call a ‘time capsule’

[picklemewalnuts]

That's disgusting! Also, the likelihood that he's been scouting out possibilities ahead of time- that's super creepy and invasive.

Nasty, stalkerish piece of work.

[daisyducky]

Sorry no advice. Just wanted to add my shock and disgust at this. That poor lady and anyone else that has had this happen to.

[YetAnotherHastyNameChange]

I don’t know how the family found out about it. I’ve only heard from the cleaner who told me to let me know that she still wasn’t back so I didn’t need to visit.

[Thesearmsofmine]

I think I found it OP, disgusting man.

[pinkgin85]

I cannot believe this.
So you're saying if I leave my door unlocked, someone can legally come in, rummage through my things, invade my privacy, and it's perfectly legal? No no no, not okay!!! I'm not British but live here, many things have shocked me over the years and this will be going right to the top!

[YetAnotherHastyNameChange]

There also a load of photos of him inside a local NT property during lockdown. I’m amazed they aren’t kicking off about it, although maybe they don’t want to draw attention to how easily he got in.

[ZeroFuchsGiven]

That photo is really creepy!

[rainpurplerain]

This must be so distressing for the people who have their privacy invaded.

I too, am shocked that this is not illegal, I think it is scary and your home is meant to be your safe place.