‘My hell at hands of cannabis tenant’ – one man’s fight to get his problem neighbour evicted
A COUNCIL tenant has spoken about the ‘complete and utter nightmare’ he faces living on one of the city’s estates – and the authority’s inability to do anything about it.
The tenant, who the Citizen has agreed not to name for his own safety, lives in constant fear. In recent months he has been assaulted, suffered death threats, had dog poo shoved through his letterbox and put up with loud music and banging on his door throughout the night.
But Milton Keynes Council has been unable to evict the man behind most of the trouble, despite the fact he is a drunk who was recently convicted of growing cannabis in his own council flat.
Our source, who has learning difficulties and Aspergers, said: “I feel the council lost control eight to nine months ago. The police and council seem to have said, ‘this guy is too much of a problem, let them fight it out between themselves’.
“I struggle through life sometimes. I moved to be closer to my family, which provides the support I need.
“But I was assaulted in a stairwell in November. The police had no evidence to prove who did it.
“Now I am being woken up at night with loud music, banging on the door, dog poo through the letterbox. I have had to board it up because I’m so scared.
“Death threats have been made against me and threats that my flat will be burned down.
“It literally petrifies me.
“I am only living in two rooms of the flat. At night I sleep with the light on and at every single sound I’m up checking the doors and windows. I’m constantly phoning my family to say I’m scared.
“Whenever I call the police it’s ‘there’s nothing we can do’. I have had times when I have just cried and cried. I can’t sleep properly. I have been moody with people who have done nothing to me.
“I’m constantly looking over my shoulder to see who is following me.”
The tenant, who has put an extra lock on his door for added security, added: “It is like living in a prison cell. I can’t go out at night. When I have to work late I have to get someone to come home with me as I’m so scared something will happen.
“It is a complete and utter nightmare. It is like mob rule in the flats. If you are big and strong you are in control.”
The council has offered to move him out of his flat and into a towerblock, but the tenant said his Aspergers means he needs to be close to his family to survive.
“I don’t want to move out of the Lakes Estate,” he said.
“I have tried living away from the family and got to the point where I tried killing myself four times in six months. Moving away would put me back to square one.
“I want to be at peace, but to move out would be worse for me. I would have been stuck in an eighth floor flat. If I had a dark mood I’m worried I would succeed if I felt like ending my life.”
And he said he is disgusted a convicted criminal can remain in his flat while he is too scared to return home.
“I am the one that hasn’t committed any crime, hasn’t made anyone’s life a misery.
“The authorities take the side of the offenders over the victims, who are made to feel they are the ones in the wrong for making them do their job.
“There is no support for victims of these kind of crimes.
“Teresa May said the Government will stamp out this sort of anti-social behaviour, but this man has committed a crime and the authorities can’t kick him out.”
The council have asked our source to testify as part of a long-winded eviction process that could take as long as a year, but he said: “Why does it have to get to the stage where the victims have to put their lives on the line to get this criminal out of his flat.”
He has moved in with family to avoid the area, but the council told him to move back into his flat or it would be re-rented.
“They said if I don’t go back to my flat they will deem it uninhabited, board it up and re-rent it. But when I went up there I was approached by two council officers who said, ‘you can’t be here, the animal is in his flat’.
“They are giving conflicting messages. It’s totally confusing.”
And he added: “I have been self-harming when these people have been at my door making threats. I cut myself to reassure myself, to make sure it is not a dream.”
When dealing with problem tenants the council is tied by legal procedures that can mean it can take up to a year and a number of court appearances before an eviction can be secured.
Other legal procedures are possible, but often large rafts of evidence have to be collected for these to succeed – and they can even mean that while tenants are removed from their homes, the council still has to battle for many months before an eviction is granted leaving valuable housing stock unoccupied in the meantime.
A council spokesman said: “There are a variety of resources available to the council for dealing with anti social behaviour, including legal action if necessary.
“The law has put in place a number of safeguards to ensure that those who are subject to the action are dealt with fairly, and the council is obliged to ensure these are met – the natural consequence of this can be that cases can take a long time to resolve. Whatever action is taken, this must be supported by solid evidence and directed at the actual problem at hand.
“The council will be taking action, but it may take time and care as necessary to ensure that it is effective.”
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Friday 25 May 2012
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Comments
There are 8 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
TokenMaWeed
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 01:12 AMWow , i think the person who wrote this story is trying to get noticed by the Daily Mail for a chance of a bigger pay slip . It was a great attempt though because that head line " My hell at hands of cannabis tenant " is right up the Daily Mails ally of untrue and distorted facts and evidence in their head lines . I wonder what propaganda we will see next from this " media source " if thats what you would call this excuse for a news paper . Its sad to see in this day and age that the media are like sheep once one paper goes against something the rest follow without question or standards . Cannabis has been used by man for thousands of years and has yet to claim a life unlike other legal drugs that kill millions every year . Say a man gets so drunk and drives his car into a group of school kids crossing the road killing them all, the media take an interest for a day or so and would probably come back to the story for a few seconds when the court case is over an his punishment is read out . But look at cannabis now , a man smokes a joint and does the same thing and BOOM every news paper is attacking the Government for not giving drug users the death sentence and the story is quoted every time cannabis is mentioned after . Can you spot the difference . If you call yourself a media source you should be ashamed of yourself all you are is a propaganda tool or sheep and the public are waking up to this FACT . You cannot blame cannabis for one persons behaviour if he was growing and smoking just tobacco would the headline have been " My hell at the hands of tobacco tenant " No is the answer .
crossbow
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 12:21 AMWhy are the council so slow to react to situations like this? kick this drug users ass out of the flat, if he can't control himself then he does not deserve to be in Milton Keynes let alone making life hell for this poor guy. Far to much tolerance for thugs and criminals, the council needs to get a grip with cases like this, perhaps the councillors would like him and others like him to move in next door to them until they can do something.
DaveyD
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:08 AMHow many times do we hear this “if they only asked we could of helped" If this is not a cry for help then what is? This tenant is clearly a very vulnerable adult who has learning difficulties and Aspergers, been self-harming and has attempted to take his own life. The council need to get of their backsides and take this situation very serious, I say to the tenant now that you have brought it to the attention of the local paper that you keep a diary of all events that take place at your flat, what time and what has happened. After three months pass this onto your council officer and forward a copy to the police and local paper, this will give all a clear picture of what is going on. Keep everyone in the loop of what is happen remember you are not alone and you don't have to put up with this. I hope the paper keep with this story as i'm sure lots reading this will want a happy a ending to this story.
JosiahMannall
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:39 PMIn reference to Craig's comment; You state that it's purely speculation as to if cannabis or alcohol or both or neither cause the offenders behaviour so by logic that means the title is pure speculation. Headlines should uphold the truth of the story and give an accurate refference to the content, which in this case was almost completely about the abuse suffered. A more appropriate headline would be something along the lines of "My hell from death threat tennent" given the fact the source's life is made miserable by those actions, not the historical or current plant growing.
LegalizeCannabisNow
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 08:17 PMThanks for the response Craig. I agree that we can't be sure about the reasons for the anti-social behaviour so why not just use a headline such as 'anti-social tenant'? Anyway 'cannabis tenant' makes no sense - you wouldn't say 'alcohol tenant' would you? And I would still maintain that all the evidence points to cannabis being much safer and much less likely to lead to anti-social behaviour than alcohol.
Benjyp
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 05:50 PMIf this person is obviously a nightmare and putting someone's life in danger, why can't he be evicted immediately? There has to be a better, more efficient way of dealing with lowlife scum like this. As said in the article, the rights of the offender are put before those of the victim. It's disgusting. This needs to be sorted out as soon as possible, as no one should have to suffer like that.
Craig Lewis
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:52 PMThanks for your comment. I don't agree the headline is bizarre. The problem tenant was convicted of growing cannabis in his council flat, hence 'cannabis tenant'. He is drunk and anti-social as well, so either of those descriptions would have done equally as well. In fact we used 'drunk' in the paper version of the story. Whether it is cannabis or alcohol - or both - that cause him to be anti-social is a matter for speculation. His conviction for growing cannabis is a fact.
LegalizeCannabisNow
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 12:52 PMThe headline for this story is utterly bizarre, but I guess it illustrates the usual distortion and lies from the local press. Why 'cannabis tenant' when it would be more accurate to say 'anti-social' tenant? This story really has nothing to do with cannabis at all. It's far more likely that the anti-social behaviour is caused by alcohol misuse and if cannabis was legal maybe this guy would choose to use that instead, thus reducing his anti-social behaviour.
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