I'm being bullied - please help

Boobydoo

Some months ago I posted on here about someone taking me to Court. I lost the battle and was ordered to pay just over 2k. I'd had a really tough time nearly loosing my new born and so I just gave in. I started to pay 30 per month to this woman until she closed the bank account I paid into. She then got a warrant issued for bailiffs. To cut a long story short I had to apply to set aside the warrant and sat in front of a judge and explained what had happened. I'd also involved a solicitor, but to be honest they were not very good and I couldn't keep paying for them to do work that I ended up doing.

This woman is awful behind the scenes and I'm not trying to make myself look good here. I have an email from her saying that if she can bump the court costs up enough she will bankrupt me. I have religiously paid every month without fail. My September payment was with her three weeks ago, but she's done it again and re applied for a warrant. I spoke to the bailiff today who knows the full story and has been shown the evidence that I'm telling the truth. He says he has no idea what to do. Even the Court don't want to know!

How can I make someone listen? I'm dealing with someone who won't let go! The person in question is a mental health social worker. Can I complain to someone to try and stop her? She's in Scotland so everything seems so difficult. I'm at my wits end, getting no sleep and expecting my second child. I don't want to go through any more stress. Please tell me if there is any way I can stop this woman bullying me. It's so wrong that the courts won't help me when I'm the one who is doing everything asked of me. I don't want bailiffs at my door. I'm being threatened with having to go to prison because this woman has told the courts I'm selling a pony! It's not mine and all the contact details on the add are not mine. I just dont know what to do and there appears to be no one to turn too.

kelly993

Hi

You are clearly in a horrible place at the moment and from what you have said her behaviour constitutes harassment. This can be dealt with by the police. They wont be able to get involved with anything a civil court is dealing with as its not within their remit but they can help stop unwanted communication from her. If she is sending you emails/calling/texting or doing any sort of communication that causes you distress then harassment legislation is in place to stop this behaviour. If I were you I would phone your local force and explain the full situation to them. They will ask a number of questions and then tell you if they can help based on the full information. I would suggest that if you do have a complaint to pursue that you start keeping copies of all communication from her and tell her one in writing to leave you alone and only have contact through the solicitor. This will aid any police investigation that might follow.
I wish you luck and hope it gets better soon.

Boobydoo

Thanks Kelly993. I feel really quiet alone and just want her to leave me alone. It would be fine for her to contact me if I didn't pay her. She's very clever and all the harassment is over the court case. She has literally denied receiving my cheque on time. I even asked the court if I could pay through them, but was told no.

I'm worried that the Police won't want to know because she harrases me over the old court case and also because she's in Scotland. Even the Bailiff has agreed that she's being underhanded, but he said he can do nothing.

kelly993

I can imagine you do feel like that, and she probably thinks she can get away with it and as she is getting away with it there is nothing to prevent her from continuing. I think you need to get really tough with her, be firm with your wording write her a letter stating that her continued contact over matters which are being resolved in a court is causing you harassment and that you will report her to the police for this offence should she continue with this. The police will want to know but they will need all the facts. They can not become involved in anything in direct relation to the case but they can and will become involved if the person peruses a course of conduct amounting to harassment but you need to be really clear and accurate with the information you provide to the police. Tell them that yes she is contacting you in relation to an old case but be specific about the amount of communication you are getting, any threats or abusive language being used etc. If she was just sending you the odd email reminding you that payment is due or even saying that if payment was not made before x amount of time then she would have to go back to the court then fine this would not constitute harassment. The best thing you can do is take everything you have evidencing her behaviour towards you into your local station and sit and speak with an officer about it. They will then review everything and see if there is something that can be done. The fact that she is in Scotland should not matter that much, Scotland does have slightly different legislation but your local force will be able to liaise with the Scottish Police and together they will deal with her if she is breaking the law. I think until you show her you are not going to be walked all over she will not stop

NeverAgain_2

Sound advice from kelly993.

It is worth having a word with the police, but you need to be calm and rational with them, accepting from the off they know best, even if they don't.

Ask them if her course of conduct amounts to harassment.

They should be prepared to at least listen, and happily for you, you tick a few vulnerability boxes.

This woman will not listen to you, so you need to find someone she will listen to.

On that basis, you could complain to her employer.

I would do that without a second thought, but then I'm what's been described several times as a 'strong character', so raising the temperature in that way wouldn't bother me one bit.

It may not be such a good option for you.

DS4215

Kelly,

Do you have your own house or car or much in the way of possessions? - If you haven't (and lots of things count as essentials anyway), then making you bankrupt isn't going to get her much back of that money. She will lose out on the money you owe her, she will have to pay court costs and solicitor costs and you will be debt free...

Ok, so your credit record will be affected for a few years, but that course of action can hurt her a lot more than it can ever hurt you...

Boobydoo

Thanks guys. I've got my head together today and have compiled everything I have to take to my local station.

I also need to deal with the Bailiffs and the Courts. I have filled in an application to suspend the warrant and with it I intend to attach a letter stating that I haven't fallen behind with any payments and have listed them all. I may well get the warrant suspended, but how do I stop her continually doing this? She's also told the courts I am selling a pony which definately isn't mine, but because the seller lives in the same town she's told them it's me. Apparantly I can go to prison for breach according to the Bailiff.

It's so very frustrating that I am doing everything I've been ordered to and that the Courts/Bailiffs have no idea how to deal with this kind of issue.

To the person who said they'd write to her employer. I tried that and they said she was doing nothing wrong in working hours! I am considering writing to the Scottish governing body for Social Workers. Much as it may cause a problem I have to stop this woman treating me this way. Does anyone think that this course of action may help? Trust me, if I had the money I'd be paying the CCJ off.

Lastly, I really don't want to be made bankrupt and I thought the amount had to be 5k or more?

I'm being really strong today and intend to sort all my letters and visit out to the Police today. Thank you all so much for your help so far. You really have made me feel so much stronger.

kelly993

DS4215 wrote: »

Kelly,

Do you have your own house or car or much in the way of possessions? - If you haven't (and lots of things count as essentials anyway), then making you bankrupt isn't going to get her much back of that money. She will lose out on the money you owe her, she will have to pay court costs and solicitor costs and you will be debt free...

Ok, so your credit record will be affected for a few years, but that course of action can hurt her a lot more than it can ever hurt you...

Hi
Im sorry I don’t get your point! Perhaps I am not reading it correctly. The OP is asking about advice reference being bullied by another person who has previously taken her to court. To get something into court there must have been good reason, this is not under dispute at all. If she is receiving continued harassment from this person then it can be stopped by the police and the other person will have no choice but to only have contact with the OP via a solicitor or trained mediator. This will not of course stop any court proceeding or put an end to anything already put in place by a civil court but it will take some of the stress away from the OP by not having to hear continued threats and be subjected to abusive behaviour. I don’t really understand how dealing with a bullying situation may result in being bankrupt?

kelly993

kelly993 wrote: »

Hi
Im sorry I don’t get your point! Perhaps I am not reading it correctly. The OP is asking about advice reference being bullied by another person who has previously taken her to court. To get something into court there must have been good reason, this is not under dispute at all. If she is receiving continued harassment from this person then it can be stopped by the police and the other person will have no choice but to only have contact with the OP via a solicitor or trained mediator. This will not of course stop any court proceeding or put an end to anything already put in place by a civil court but it will take some of the stress away from the OP by not having to hear continued threats and be subjected to abusive behaviour. I don’t really understand how dealing with a bullying situation may result in being bankrupt?

Ok so I have put my eyes on corectley now, and re-read it a couple more times! I think I now get what you are saying and yes it makes perfect sense.

kelly993

Boobydoo wrote: »

Thanks guys. I've got my head together today and have compiled everything I have to take to my local station.

I also need to deal with the Bailiffs and the Courts. I have filled in an application to suspend the warrant and with it I intend to attach a letter stating that I haven't fallen behind with any payments and have listed them all. I may well get the warrant suspended, but how do I stop her continually doing this? She's also told the courts I am selling a pony which definately isn't mine, but because the seller lives in the same town she's told them it's me. Apparantly I can go to prison for breach according to the Bailiff.

It's so very frustrating that I am doing everything I've been ordered to and that the Courts/Bailiffs have no idea how to deal with this kind of issue.

To the person who said they'd write to her employer. I tried that and they said she was doing nothing wrong in working hours! I am considering writing to the Scottish governing body for Social Workers. Much as it may cause a problem I have to stop this woman treating me this way. Does anyone think that this course of action may help? Trust me, if I had the money I'd be paying the CCJ off.

Lastly, I really don't want to be made bankrupt and I thought the amount had to be 5k or more?

I'm being really strong today and intend to sort all my letters and visit out to the Police today. Thank you all so much for your help so far. You really have made me feel so much stronger.

This is good news im really glad you are feeling much stronger
It really will be the best thing to do, she may not like the police being in contact with her but she needs to know her conduct is unacceptable. Re going to the Scottish govening body for social workers...this of course is up to you. Personally I would hold off doing this at the moment, see what the police suggest once you have presented them with all of the evidence. If there is a case for harassment their most likely route will be to serve her with a part one harassment warning, this will outline her breaches of harassment legislation and warn her about contacting you again detailing acceptable behaviour. If she then continues to contact you and therefore breaching this warning she will be arrested. Harassment prosecution is quite high because you will no doubt have some evidence of the breach. If she get convicted then her job will be in danger as social worker is a notifiable occupation and the police have a legal duty to notify her employer of the conviction. Hopefully any warning she receives will make her sit up and take notice of her behaviour and make her realise what she may have to loose if she continues.
Best of luck today with the police, I hope it all works out for you

Boobydoo

Thank you Kelly993. You really have been there for me and I really do appreciate it.