Freedom of information act?

comicmankev

Not sure this is the irght place, but does anyone know if there is any way I can find out about a neighbours 'criminal record'?

I know under the FoIA you cannot find out about a specific individual due to the Data protection act, but wondered if there were ways around this, ie maybe asking for a criminal report on my street etc?

whatatwit

If the neighbour has always lived locally, try your local newspaper. They may be on-line and have a search facility.

Mutantk

I had cause last year to try and discover if my neighbour had a record, our local community support officer said under normal circumstances, NO, we wouldn't be allowed this info. She did say however that in certain eventualities we may be able to find out - to give you an example, our neighbour was harassing us but in such a way it was only borderline criminal and the police struggled to do anything about it - we then discovered the previous occupants had the same problem and that's why they moved and lied to us about the neighbour being great...we found our best course of action was to sue to the previous owners for misrepresentation in the sale and the solicitor involved in our case was able to obtain info about the neighbour as it aided our case.....so I suppose what I'm saying is if you go through the right channels it's not impossible.....

comicmankev

Thanks for that. Without going into too much info, the neighbour is consistently abusive, has a doberman dog which is fully untrained, never even taken for a walk, which is used to intimidate my children when in the garden. Latest addition he came out with PETROL and threw it over an open fire I had ablaze and tried to set light to my shed AND MY FRIEND!

Anyway, we have been in talks with the PCSO for ages, but apparently, so the police say, as he only set light to his OWN fence, he didnt do anything wrong. UNBELIEVABLE! He verbally abuses me and my wife any time we see him, and his girlfriend is as bad. the PCSO has visited about 6 times but apparently nothing can be done.

Horace

Keep a diary of everything the neighbour does and report him to the council and to the police. Try a real police man as opposed to a community support officer (as these seem to be in-effective).

Speak to other neighbours who are likely to have been intimidated by this crowd - the more of you that speak out, the more likely you are to get the person shifted.

HTH

debs66_2

have you tried contacting your local MP?

i had a problem one night when a party got out of hand, and people were screaming down mics until 4.30am. i phoned the police to ask them if someone could go round and ask them to turn it down, and i was told it was 'out of their jurisdiction'!! (what a joke this country is becoming). when i asked if i could go round and pull the plug, the cop got v nasty with me and said i could not do that etc etc.

anyway, after hardly any sleep i emailed my MP the next morning, and asked him why the law abiding majority can be held ransom by the law breaking minority, and why the law is on their side and not ours. 2 days later a letter dropped on my mat, which was a copy he had sent to the head cop of our county's police department, which pulled no punches. he had also sent him a copy of my email. i later got a personal phone call and apology from the head guy, and was able to air my views about what happened, and why he should send his switchboard guy to charm school.

it's worth a shot, and don't forget, politicians are trying to win votes at the moment. you are being victimised and the law is not working for you. ask your MP why not?

comicmankev

Yeah, what I thought was pathetic was the police AND the fire brigade had to come out to this event as lots of his fence was alight. They watched from their back door and when the police said they would knock on their door, the neighbours turned all their lights off, to which the police saw. They knocked, then returned and said there was nothing they could do as they were not answering the door!!!!!!

debs66_2

what you are experiencing is victimisation, compounded by totally apathy from the public services that you pay for and who are supposed to deal with these issues. write it all down and go higher than the level you are dealing with - either MP or high level police officer.

try and be to the point in your letter, and ask questions, because when you ask a question it requires an answer. 'Why can't my children play in their own garden without fear of attack?' 'Why can't the police stop this behaviour? etc etc.

also ask why it is that all the rights seem to be on the side of the law breaker. if you write to your MP, ask him/her why you should vote for his/her party next time when things like this are allowed to happen.

good luck!

debs66_2

forgot to say, all large companies/public services have to by law have in place a complaints procedure. Writing in - rather than phoning - starts the ball rolling and they have to be seen to go through the correct channels to see into your complaint.

Reggie_Rebel

Next time he's out with something in his hand phone Plod and tell them you think he's got a weapon, they'll be round your house quicker than Amy Winehouse going to the off-licence

m.colak

Ummm abit confused surely the criminal damage act 1971 has a part in it which directly correlates to:

Damaging property/arson with intent to endanger life/recklessness

Section 1(2) of the Act makes it an offence to destroy or damage property, intending thereby to endanger the life of another, or being reckless as to whether the life of another would thereby be endangered <Archbold 23-13>.
If the damage is committed by fire, the offence is charged as arson with intent or being reckless as to whether the life of another would be thereby endangered.
Where the aggravated form of damaging property/arson is charged, specific counts should be preferred, as follows:

• intending to destroy/damage property or being reckless as to whether property would be destroyed/damaged and intending to endanger the life of another; or
• intending to destroy/damage property or being reckless as to whether property would be destroyed/damaged and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

surely the cops know the law . If someone deliberately starts a fire its arson (no matter whether its their property or not). If this doesn't work then the council (if council tenants) or mortgage company can take them to court as the property isn't owned by them anyway.