I'm in complete and utter shock about this accusation

[chichi2026]

I don't want to bore everyone with the background (or out myself). Basically, I have been on the receiving end of a long campaign of harassment by my immediate neighbour. I was finally able to give a statement to police at the end of last year - then a few weeks later, her behaviour escalated to racism in January this year and after more waiting, she was charged with racially aggravated harassment. I have no choice but to continue living opposite her and it's been a few months of hell, but at least the Court date is finally approaching later this month. We live in social housing and the landlord has recently (after much lobbying on my part) decided to start legal proceedings against her. It's good news, but too little too late as the impact on me has been horrendous - and I'll probably lose my job as a result of it.

This tenant is younger than me and not the brightest - but she is extremely manipulative and has involved a couple of her friends (also neighbours) to increase the pressure of the harassment on me. It's taken me such a long time to get anyone to believe me about the ongoing situation and I personally feel that I have been disbelieved due to unconscious bias by the housing association. I try to see the best in people and I don't want to think this but I have so many examples of when I have been treated differently in very comparable situations.

My neighbour's friend was out in the garden at just after 3am today and was making a lot of noise. I opened my bedroom window and said (not shouted as I didn't want to wake everyone up) that she was being loud and could she please stop. This neighbour is very aware that her friend is due in Court this month for Racially Aggravated Harassment.

She responded by shouting "what?" and then got her phone out and started filiming (I wasn't, I was just speaking out the window). She started walking towards the area under my window. She then suddenly shouted, "what did you say, did you just call me a white bitch?"

I was totally confused and said no, what was she on about, then she started raising her voice, repeating the accusation loudly whilst still filming. She started fake crying and then looked at me and smirked. I then called 999 to report what had happened.

I can't believe it would be that easy to accuse someone of that and there is unlikely to be any meaningful police response to that. How do I trust the police as a woman of colour, knowing that we are statistically likely to be mistreated, yet the far right have now made out that the police don't care about white people because mistakes were made around one recent situation?

There is a two tier issue and it definitely isn't in the favour of ethnic minority people. If the dickheads protesting didn't attack the police they would have a much easier life.

Nobody wants to hear the reality. Brown or black people who report a crime are not going to get a blue light response. I rang 999 an hour and a half ago and have had nothing from them, even though I said that this person is likely to leave the area. That means that they can leave and I get no justice.

Firstly you abused the emergency services by ringing 999 ! You were not at immediate risk, and a crime wasn't taking place, secondly, if the behaviour from the neighbour is that bad why on earth would you think they would do as you asked by speaking to them from out of the window !!

You are very lucky that you've never had to do this and the majority of people have neighbours that know how to get on with their neighbours. But then there are the ones who don't. And why should they not be pulled up on their behaviour?

The problem is it's you v her. I have also previously had someone harass me for several years. I became away that you need facts not hear say. I set up ring door bells (cheap but effective)
Wrote diaries and tried to get 3rd party evidence, with out that it's just your word against hers.

It must be awful living near such harrassment and I really hope it is sorted out quickly and the person responsible made to move. However, having said that, the encounter you describe would not and does not warrant a blue light response and certainly not on a Saturday night. It doesn't matter what colour the participants are. Also, why on earth would you interact with them if you know that the woman is a friend of your harrasser? She would hardly apologise and pipe down. I know it was probably frustrating, but you should have just put some earplugs in and ignored it for the sake of your case in the long run. She is trying to make you out to be the problem and she is going to manage it. You say she's not the brightest, but she's unfortunately been cleverer than you in this instance.

This. Sorry about the harassment it all sounds awful but you don't ring 999 for a situation like this. What was the emergency?

999 is for situations if you’re at immediate harm or a crime taking place, ie an assault.

Im very sorry for your troubles caused by idiots but I’m not sure why you expected a blue light response? People who have been burgled or robbed don’t even get that always. Not saying it’s right.

I agree with PPs don’t interact with them, just log it all. If you have to, record the entire interaction. Leaning out of your window and talking to them does not help your case.

It sounds like you are pulling the lion’s tail to get a reaction. Please don’t call 999 - this is not an emergency situation. I do hope the women get what they deserve in court and hopefully the council will move you.

No one HAS to lean out of a window and shout be quiet ...No matter what the provocation..
If someone is already making a lot of noise at 3 am ,you already know you are not dealing with a rational person..
Therefore the only way such an alteration is going to go is to escalate.
Best all round to ignore.
Obviously they know their behaviour is shit ..but they don't care ..they want a Barney,a fight ,an argument..it's just playing in to their hands to respond by shouting of the window.
There's proper channels to go down regarding noise with the council

999 is for threat to life or serious crime in progress. Neither were the case here this wasn't a 999 issue. Nothing to do with race or whatever you didn't require an emergency response when you could have just shut the window and been safe in your own property. This is a non emergency police issue I would have rang the non emergency line to log it or done so online? Most forces have that facility or I would have made a log myself I assume you already do log issues for the council?

Knowing what the neighbours are like, I'm not sure i would have tried to tell them to be quiet. It was always going to escalate...... it's really shit to have antisocial neighbours, but in this case I would kept quiet and put up with it. You've given them what they wanted.

Im so sorry that you are going through this, I wouldn’t be sticking my head out the window at 3am to ask anyone to be quiet I’d just get ok with it and not say a word so no one could accuse me of a thing. You need to protect yourself and if they really are that bad I’d do all I can to avoid communication. I hope this gets resolved for you because your home is supposed to be your safe space.

on top of that you were trying to waste police time. If you were that scared I’d do all I can to avoid them which includes hanging out the window at 3am to ask them
to be quiet. I’d be that scared I’d be staying away from the windows but it seems you brought that on yourself or it isn’t real and you’ve made this up

People call the emergency services for spurious reasons, all the time.

The OP was frightened and felt like she needed their support, so, she was well in order to call them.
The coppers were never going to respond to that call, mind you. They’re lazy bastards at the best of times.

In terms of the accusation, if she’s due up in court for racially aggravating behaviour already, and she was filming it and you never said anything, there’s not going to be anything to back her up. So I wouldn’t worry about that.

you were extremely unreasonable to report it to 999. Come off it OP. That’s not an emergency.

Two-tier justice isn’t benefiting white people that’s for sure.

For harassment by the neighbours, no-one gets a blue light response, regardless of colour. These things are painfully slow and thr police are legally required to consider both sides of the argument.

A colleague is also going through a campaign of threats, harrassment and criminal damage including smashing her windscreen and setting fire to her car, by a HA neighbour, and it has taken almost six months for the police to issue a warning. Her HA has done the same but the toll on her has been horrendous. She is a nervous wreck.

They too have counter-accused her of all sorts of horrible behaviour. I'm sorry you both have to put up with such vile people. There doesn't seem to be an easy answer.

People aren’t within their rights to dial 999 just because they feel “frightened” and “need support”. 999 is for when a serious crime is being committed or when there’s a risk to life.

Accusing someone of falsely calling someone a 'white bitch' is mired in racism.

How is it not? It is the POINT of the insult. And the noise being made was probably deliberate to goad the OP (otherwise why 1) the accusation of shouting when she wasn't, 2) filming the encounter and 3) the insult.

Stop supporting racism.

Everyone has the right to live peacefully and I'm sorry for what you're going through and hope it comes to an end soon but you're being ridiculous calling 999 for that. I'm glad they didn't come out to a nothing situation (compared with what they are actually supposed to be dealing with).

Its calls like yours OP that clog the system up and stop emergencies services helping people in dire need.

Can you purchase and set up Ring cameras? They're fantastic at capturing anything going on. Just completely ignore your neighbour and her friends. They'll be doing their best now to get you into trouble. But I'd say cameras are your best bet. Anything that happens they'll detect it or it might prevent the morons from doing anything else. Some people should really think before being racist as they don't know who their ancestors are. On doing my family tree and taking a DNA test, I discovered my fifth great grandfather was black and enslaved. I absolutely delighted on telling my niece as her husband is racist 🤣

The police can be useless I'll be the first to agree to that. They weren't 'lazy' in this case though. Of course they won't respond to neighbours having a shouting match at 3am, unless it escalated whicn it didn't.

You can't help but wonder who is the wrong here with the alleged 'harassment' ongoing issue if the op is so quick to react as she has here.

Like i say, people have called it because they’ve lost their remote control for the telly.

That’s genuinely true.

The control room ultimately decide what to do with the call, and made the right decision (here) not to come out.
The OP wasn’t clogging up the line for a ‘real emergency’.

She hasn’t done anything wrong.
Calm down, for God’s sake.

That’s why I said they’re lazy ‘at the best of times’, because they were definitely not going to respond to this call out.