Locked in my garden by my neighbour

RomC

I know this sound a bit like a Jeremy Kyle title but this happened today.
But let's start at the beginning. A new tenant moved in the building a few months ago. Then cigarette butts starting being thrown out a window in the garden. A note was placed on the front door about it and it stopped. Then lots of biscuit and chocolate wrappers, baby juice boxes started appearing in the garden. (I was there in one occasion but didn't see who it was). Then again a note was posted on the door (note a very polite one I must say). The next day there was a dirty nappy in the garden. Once again a note very polite note was posted on the front door.
Now to the main topic. Today I was in the garden with 2 other neighbors. The garden is accessed through the building's basement. The access door has a bolt on the outside of it. When one of us was leaving, he saw that the door was locked from the outside. There is no other way out of the garden. One is a 60 yo man with an injured leg and the other a 68 yo woman some bad arthritis. I had to jump into the garden next to our building and go around to unlock the door. If the elderly woman was there by herself she would be locked in there until someone came back from work. The only people in the building were the 3 of us and this new neighbor.
Now, I'm not accusing anyone as I don't have hard evidence but it seems quite likely that this was done on purpose. I wanted to know if I have any legal grounds in this matter. We are already considering contacting her landlord, I just want to know if there is anything else I can do.
Thank you for reading this long rant but this got me quite worried about my older neighbor.

a.turner

RomC wrote: »

I know this sound a bit like a Jeremy Kyle title but this happened today.
But let's start at the beginning. A new tenant moved in the building a few months ago. Then cigarette butts starting being thrown out a window in the garden. A note was placed on the front door about it and it stopped. Then lots of biscuit and chocolate wrappers, baby juice boxes started appearing in the garden. (I was there in one occasion but didn't see who it was). Then again a note was posted on the door (note a very polite one I must say). The next day there was a dirty nappy in the garden. Once again a note very polite note was posted on the front door.
Now to the main topic. Today I was in the garden with 2 other neighbors. The garden is accessed through the building's basement. The access door has a bolt on the outside of it. When one of us was leaving, he saw that the door was locked from the outside. There is no other way out of the garden. One is a 60 yo man with an injured leg and the other a 68 yo woman some bad arthritis. I had to jump into the garden next to our building and go around to unlock the door. If the elderly woman was there by herself she would be locked in there until someone came back from work. The only people in the building were the 3 of us and this new neighbor.
Now, I'm not accusing anyone as I don't have hard evidence but it seems quite likely that this was done on purpose. I wanted to know if I have any legal grounds in this matter. We are already considering contacting her landlord, I just want to know if there is anything else I can do.
Thank you for reading this long rant but this got me quite worried about my older neighbor.

If the bolt is on the outside then it must have been someone in the garden.

Aylesbury_Duck

I don't think you have any legal grounds. After all, even if it was the neighbour you suspect, they could simply claim that they noticed the gate was unlocked and locked it for security reasons. A simple mistake. What might or could have happened is irrelevant because it didn't.

I suggest you keep a diary of these incidents so that if a pattern emerges and you want to contact the landlord or other appropriate authority, you have a reasonable record.

RomC

Sorry, i meant outside in relation to us in the garden. Inside the building.

markin

That baby maybe in danger send the social.


Also i would just remove the bolt, The garden sounds fairly secure anyway, until you can get a safer lock.

RomC

We had some drug addicts come in the building and use the basement to take drugs. That's why the door is bolted shut.

markin

Replace it with a bolt with a padlock hoop, so you 3 can padlock it open when outside.

Doozergirl

Try talking to your neighbour and making friends. Creating mutual respect is what maintains it.

It doesn't matter how polite you think a note is, it isn't.

Grenage

Notes are passive agressive, easily misinterpreted, and generally make the author appear cowardly. A two minute conversation will achieve far more than a dozen notes.

RomC

I know notes are not the best and I agree that having a conversation would be better. The only problem here is that we don't have any proof that it was her although being pretty sure. The notes posted in the front of door of the building are more of a "to whom it may concern" kinda type. I'm afraid that if we stop there to have a conversation it might be seen as an accusation.

Norman_Castle

Change the lock on the door to one that can be opened from both sides.