Is this “enough” harassment?

[AnyQuestions101]

My DH and I are being harassed online by a former friend of his. He took against me, as he does against a lot of people, and has been attacking us online for two years now. It’s quite low level stuff really, mostly Facebook posts and messages. I’m mostly the target. However, there have also (once) been mention of murder and suicide in a post (ie. He had apparently been told by a doctor that he could be capable of murder and he feels the same way again), and of turning up at the front door. He has been in psychiatric in patient care before and has some mental health diagnoses.

Is this worth reporting to the police? I’ve got screenshots of everything. I don’t know if it’ll look stupid and like I’m being dramatic. It’s more upsetting than it is scary, but also, it is scary! He doesn’t live near us but does know our address. We’ve never responded although we did ask a mutual acquaintance to tell him to stop last year.

Also thought of getting a cease and desist letter done but I know how expensive things can turn out when solicitors or lawyers are involved and I also know they’re not legally binding or enforceable. Any thoughts welcome, thank you

Go to the Police

It's free

I went to the police for less and they recorded everything. It stopped so I never followed it up but they would have been more than happy to go and speak to the perpetrator if I’d given them the go ahead.

I have been in a similar but less serious circumstance with someone living nearby. I spoke to the police about it who gave me very good advice and told me they would absolutely escalate it if I felt it was necessary.

Has it reoccurred or escalated recently? If so you could report the concerns as a safeguarding concern for a vulnerable adult through your local authority’s website. If this person really is that unwell that clinicians would consider them potentially dangerous to others it could lead to them being considered for sectioning to get treatment for their mental health.

I would report it.
If he’s using the word murder, you never really know what someone is capable of. You don’t want to end up being one of those people who regretted not reporting it to the police. In circumstances like this I would rather over react than under react, but I don’t think it’s overreacting to report it anyway.

You can pay a solicitor to write a letter, but in reality it holds no more legal weight than a letter written by yourself or the local pizza delivery guy.

Letters like this are threats, pure and simple. An 'official-looking' way to put the heebie-geebies up someone, with the hope that the fear of legal action/consequences will make them reconsider whatever it is that's affecting you.

The question to ask yourself is: 'How do I think they will respond?' This person sounds like a bit of a nutter. Plus you say they potentially have mental health issues. Are they likely to feel the intended gravity of such a letter? Is it more likely to spur them on and embolden them in their 'fight' against you? Maybe they have some legal knowledge (or the wherewithal to Google it) and know that the letter isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Maybe they'd be happy to drag things out and cost you more money in legal fees.

From what you've said, it's possible that their behaviour qualifies as harassment, in which case the police is your best option.

If his behaviour is limited to Facebook though...why not just block and forget about him?