House trashed whilst I was at work

[Monkey987]

Just want to know what you would do in my situation.
A relative of mine (with mental health concerns) came to my house uninvited and smashed my window in an attempt to get in.
He also destroyed lots of other items in my garden and house.

He's done at least £1000 worth of damage.
I'm torn.
Am I being unreasonable to report them to the police for criminal damage so I can go through my insurance and claim?

Or do I pretend I have no idea how the damage happened.

The relative doesn't have a pot to p**s in. So no point asking them to fix it.

Your neighbour had him on ring doorbell footage causing damage. You should not have cleaned up, because that action is what prevents a prosecution, very silly. You are not protecting yourselves here at all. Stop listening to what other siblings say, they have no idea what actually happened. It's odd that you've jumped to arson as a risk, that's a big leap from damaging a window - why? What else from the story have you hidden here?

You've had good advice and are dismissing aspects of it for no good reason.

1. Report to police and say you have mental health concerns. Supply neighbour details for witness and evidence. Do not hide the extra information that have led you to suspect he would commit arson.
2. Security needs sorting out; get your own video doorbell, secure the back, etc.
3. For one broken window, the insurance claim won't be worth it. It's not clear how you came to the idea of £1000 for one window though, you should be able to get it fixed much cheaper. You might spend more if you decide to upgrade to double glazed with tempered glass, as it improves insulation as well as being harder to break.

If his family will be upset if you report their relative, would they be willing to pay for the repairs etc?

Please stop saying this OP.
You wouldn't say it about the NHS if you'd had a bad experience with a GP 'Well, that's that, won't be using that again'.

It's not just a smashed window, from the circs you've given it actually could amount to burglary (includes entering as a trespasser to cause damage), hard to prove but this is what you need to report and not downplay, although you're scuppered a bit as left it so long now so forensics/SOCO likely not useful now, and no photos of the damage within the house (was it permanent or just made a mess of inside?)
It may also be domestic related depending on your relationship with him.
Yes he would have a safeguarding refferal put in to adult social care but police can only section under the MHA if they're in a public place and at serious risk to others or themselves. So don't hand your hat on that and it isn't the polices job in this instance.
A smashed car is very different to this. Just call them and tell them what you've reported here.

Some have been very supportive, think it’s awful and they deserve to go to prison.

the rest are the ones closer anyway to the suspect and have listened to their excuses. They don’t believe they did what they did, and even if they did it was only because x y and z excuse. I am the bad guy treating them like a criminal, and it’s all for my own gain. They don’t speak to me and frankly, no loss. They’ve shown who they are.

You need a paper trail.

Sometimes reporting to the police isn't about involving the police. Someone behaving to this extreme will be classed as in crisis. Because you put in a police report it will help them get access to support they otherwise may struggle to access.

It also means you have protected yourself.

You are now making excuses not to intervene. This means the problem just festers.

Something has to change. The police want to have good clear up rates. This has a clear outcome - it's unlikely to go to prosecution but it will look good for their figures. So they will try and do something.

Stop making excuses and being the grown up and do something.

no the police don’t prosecute anything.

it is the CPS that bring charges and prosecute. The police gather the evidence, and present the case file to the CPS

it is entirely the CPS decision. Believe me, the police are just as frustrated as the CPS generally won’t take anything unless it’s pretty much guaranteed a guilty verdict. That is an incredibly high bar to pass.

as pp have said you can’t insist the police press charges. In this country it is entirely evidence based. This is so victims can’t be pressured either to “press” or “drop” charges- the police and CPS can still prosecute, or conversely not, if for example it’s a malicious accusation.

the police have a huge workload so yes, things get missed or can take time.

Report it to the police and get the crime number. That's all you need to file an insurance claim. If they don't pursue it further, sounds like you can live with that as long it's logged.

If it happens again and they haven't done anything, then you can point to that down the line as well.

Report

it might even mean your relative gets pushed up a priority list for help

It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself it's not worth it. But it absolutely is. Even if nothing comes of it this time, there needs to be a record of his behaviour.

Did he say anything to your neighbour?

OP have you reported this yet, or are you still faffing around?

Why on earth did your DP clear up without even taking photos? This was a really stupid thing to do, as if nothing else it may have helped to convince the rest of the family that he actually did this.

I don't actually think in a case like this that it would be worth the cost and aggravation of moving house again, as the likelihood is that a family member would only pass on the new address to him if he asked.

Has anyone actually spoken to the culprit since this happened, to ask why he did it?