Neighbours at war for 18 years

This feud between neighbours has been going on for 18 years.  It all started over carpet and has escalated to court appearances, police involvement and solicitors.  There is no end in sight.

Both sides of the dispute say that, "none of the authorities appear to have the power to stop the war.
The courts have no power, the Building Services Authority has no power and the police have no power."
One of the parties asked their solicitor, How do we get an end to this?  His reply, "You have two choices, put up with it or move."

Their response to this, "But we can't afford to move!"

There is simply no answer to the dilemna.  I know of one couple who have moved over and over again.  Each time they moved to a new house, new neighbours would move in and it would begin all over again.  Now they are stuck.  They can't afford to move anymore and they are putting up with all the noise etc.

Sadly until the authorities recognise that there is a serious problem that needs addressing, nothing will be done.  People are suffering, communities are suffering, and there is no end to it.

Neighbours feuding for 18 years

I am a prisoner - in my own home!

 

The sun is shining

But I can't enjoy it

The wind is blowing

But I can't enjoy it

 

 

My neighbour can though

With their loud music

Fights and screams

Lighting fires and throwing bricks

Smashing belongings with a baseball bat

They can enjoy it

 

Dark comes

The noise and ferocity increases

I come inside

Midnight comes and goes

The terror intensifies

One-thirty arrives

I am still awake

and frightened for my life

The neighbours are enjoying it though

 

Morning arrives

I venture outside

Cat-like I pick up

their discarded remains from my lawn

Empty rum bottles and cans

Cardboard food containers

Burnt pieces of paper

and

Syringes

It all goes in my rubbish bin

The neighbours enjoyed it

 

I look up to the blue sky

Marvel at its colours

A noise from next door though

sends me scurrying

back inside my house

The neighbours are rising

 

I run inside my house

Check the doors and windows

are locked

And cower

through another day

There is no end to this terror

 

I long for peace and quiet

To open my windows

and allow in the breeze

To feel the sun on my skin

and breathe in the fresh air

The neighbours can

 

I suppose I should be thankful

that I am alive

I should be grateful

for my life

But how I wish I could

venture outside

or at the very least

have peace

 

My neighbours can

But I can't

 

 



How many more suicides and deaths will it take?

“If people are trapped in properties they can’t get rid of and they are mentally exhausted after years of this kind of stuff, we shouldn’t be surprised when suicide seems the only way out.”

Hounded-to-death-by-neighbours-from-hell

The recent suicide of Dr Susan Dow, has shown that the authorities are still not listening to the people.  In 2007, Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Francecca died after Fiona set fire to their car.  The authorities had failed to protect her, and her daughter from the Neighbours from Hell. 

Fiona had called police more than 30 times over a ten year period.  Her mother, neighbours and an MP had all contacted police on her behalf as well. 

Fiona-Pilkington-case-Read-awful-story

Fiona and her family were hounded by groups of up to 16 youngsters at a time.  Her home was repeatedly attacked with stones, eggs and flour.  Bottles were smashed outside her home and the youngsters hung outside her home for hours on end – shouting taunts and insults. Fiona’s younger brother, was threatened with a knife and locked in a shed.  Police did not respond to this incident until four days later.

fiona-pilkington-police-misconduct-proceedings

 ‘Chris Dean’, another person who has suffered from living next door to the Neighbours from Hell, said that, “I don’t believe there’s an MP in the land who hasn’t had a letter or a visit from a Fiona Pilkington at the end of her rope,” he wrote in the Daily Express at the time. “The difference between Fiona and me is that she actually went through with it.”

Chris states, “We logged reports for two-and-a-half years when youths started throwing projectiles at our windows and launching kung-fu kicks at our door every time they went past. Our home became a place of torment but I felt trapped in it for fear of what might happen if I wasn’t there,” he recalls.

 “But that wasn’t the half of it. The reason my heart aches for people like Suzanne Dow is that I know what it’s like when the authorities turn their backs.

 “Time after time we would ring the police to report an incident and be told there was no record of any problem. It took a while to grasp that the police computer had no means of grouping regular reports of low-level harassment at the same address. We thought things would improve when we were referred to a friendly beat policemen who told us to email him with every incident. We did so but he was transferred shortly after we met him and didn’t bother to tell us. It got to the point where we had complained about 50 incidents but they still said they had never heard of us. That’s when you start to lose your sanity.”

Mercedes de Dunewic is another person who has suffered. In 2002, during one 29 day period, 23 windows at her home were smashed.  Her car was wrecked, dog muck and fireworks were shoved through her letterbox and the words ‘Die Bitch’ were painted on her front door.  In four years, she reported more than 180 crimes to the police.  She appealed to her local MP. 

In 2005, Linda Walker reached the end of her tether.  She had suffered two years of vandalism and abuse.  Police had ignored at least 15 complaints.  She fired an airgun at the feet of a group of youths.  She was jailed, but freed after 36 days amid a national outcry at the way she had been treated.  She was sacked from her job though, after being a schoolteacher for 25 years.

Moving the Neighbours from Hell to another location doesn’t work. It just transfers the problem to another place – another neighbour.

fiona-pilkington-francecca-hardwick-disability

 

“What happens to all of us – to Fiona, Linda, Mercedes and me – is that we go steadily bonkers,” Chris says. “We amass huge files of increasingly desperate correspondence and by the end we are easily dismissed as mad obsessives who nobody wants to deal with.

When will the authorities realise that there is a problem?  How many more suicides and deaths will there be?  People living next door to the Neighbours from Hell are crying out for help - and there is no-one listening.

In Mourning for Dr Susan Dow

Living in a situation similar to Dr Dow’s, I can understand and relate to what she did.  At times, you do feel helpless.  You feel that no-one understands. No-one can help you.  You put up with so much from your neighbours – you reach the end of your limit.  I can only hope that Australian authorities will take heed of this case, and bring in steps to help people in this situation – before it is too late.

Desperate-last-plea-of-woman-plagued-by-neighbours-from-hell

 

Dr Susan Dow lived near the Neighbours from Hell.  Dr Dow, after three years of trying to get help, committed suicide.  She wrote a last letter to the local council, pleading for help.  It was never answered.    

The coroner, at her inquest, forwarded the letter to a newspaper in order to highlight the failures that had led to Dr Dow’s death.

Dr Dow had complained eleven times to the council.  Police were called five times.

In one comment with the police, an officer had written about Dr Dow, “You just can’t win with some people can you?”

The police have said the comments were regrettable.

In a quote from the letter written by Dr Dow, she states, “From speaking to other neighbours it is clear that Mr Robinson has been terrorising the street for years now.  I would move house if I could, but have already been advised by an estate agent that my house is all but unsalable - given the neighbours I have. I find this situation to be intolerable.”

 

Final letter from Dr Dow to council

Gloria De Piero, Shadow minister for crime prevention, has commented on the case – “Thank goodness incidents of anti social behaviour rarely have such terrible consequences. But any MP will tell you that week after week we see constituents who are at the end of their tether, constituents who complain time and time again about nuisance behaviour, and say that nothing is done by the agencies that are there to help.  It is particularly unfair that it is often those who are the victims of anti social behaviour who feel that they are the ones who have no option but to move.”

Anti-social-behaviour-must-be-investigated-within-24-hours

Other NFH stories

These Neighbours from hell moved from Victoria to Queensland.  They were banned from public housing in Victoria so they moved to Queensland where they were once again given public housing.  Some of the things these NFH did include: abusive behaviour, excessive noise, setting fire to other properties and throwing a rock through a window.  When they left the house there were car batteries, shopping trolleys, furniture, mattresses and beer bottles left strewn across the yard.

Click the link below to read the article.

NFH given home in Queensland

Another NFH – These people were charged with assault after being accused of punching and kicking a neighbour who was on the ground.  The assault occurred in front of children.   The NFH also put a hose through a neighbours window, and drenched her lounge room.  They were asked to clean up their overgrown lawns, a veranda covered in dog faeces, cockroach infestation and fire safety hazards, but have refused.

NFH who refuses to clean up

One couple's relief at eviction from NFH

One couple's relief at eviction of NFH

This couple and other neighbours had to put up with, extreme anti-social behaviour, loud music, fires started from burning rubbish and intimidation.

Cllr Brian Ellis, portfolio holder for housing at the council, said: “The council does not take the decision to evict tenants lightly. However, where tenants are responsible for causing anti-social behaviour and a nuisance to others, we work closely with the police to take action.

“The legal process means that it can take some time to achieve an eviction. Nevertheless, tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for us and we will not hesitate to pursue legal action where it is warranted.”

If only the authorities would think that way in Caboolture. 

Police must acknowledge gang problem

It is not just in Caboolture that there is a gang problem. Years ago, I approached the Caboolture police re the gangs. I was told there was no gang problem in Caboolture. Now Ipswich police are the saying the same. There is a gang problem. Why won't they admit it.


police-must-acknowledge-logan-gang-trouble-lawyer

This tag was painted by the Crips, on the road near our house in Caboolture, as a warning.