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patently
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Opposite us, several boys and a single Mum. She works, she's quite diffident, and basically she is either not there or (if she is) she can't cope.

We've had run-ins with the boys before now, stuff like teasing/bullying my son, lobbing stones etc at the house, trespassing on our garden, damaging our lights, nicking our doorbell, riding down our drive and ramming our garage door until it was dented, etc. After the garage door, I got hold of the eldest lad and explained (a) that this was criminal damage, (b) that he was stupid enough to give me grounds to give him a criminal record, but © that in the wider scheme of things, this was minor provided it stopped and didn't get worse, therefore (d) my inclination was to have a word with him rather than just report it to the Police. He looked suitably contrite. That was sometime in the spring.

Anyway, we had fireworks thrown at our house last night, from their garden. My lad came downstairs to say he had heard stuff being thrown at his window and was worried, so I went out through the garage to see what was up. Nothing to see, everyone has hidden behind the fence. So I went back and shut the garage, and just as it was closing there was a huge firework explosion just outside the nearly-closed door. Went back out, and everyone is hiding again. Oh very funny....

So I watched from the upstairs spare room, which had its curtains open and was unlit, so they couldn't see me. Surprise surprise, a little row of heads appears from over their fence to see if come out again.

Anyway, its time for a word with the mother now, then of to Plod if I'm not very impressed with what I hear.

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Anyway, its time for a word with the mother now, then of to Plod if I'm not very impressed with what I hear.

Good luck with those two.......I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

(If I may offer some advice) In my experience (working with the BIB, the probation service and as a secondary school teacher), you either get them onside (so they don't harass you and yours (thereby probably dispersing the problem onto someone else)) or you come down on them so hard that they won't do it again.

Forget the Mum, she will probably agree with everything you say (or defend them to the hilt) but then plead for sympathy....oh...I need to work to keep the kids fed and clothed etc etc and get you all misty eyed. However, she made the choice to have the kids.

BIB won't be able to do anything (much) and will probably be reluctant to as they know what the processes are. Multi agency involvement (Social Services, court system etc etc) and the culmination of all that.......will be errrr...not a lot really.

My advice........move.

Just kidding :D

Try and get them onside, if you are washing your car, get them to give you a hand (looks like you have some nice pieces of metal (ahem...maybe start with just the wheels). If you are going out in the Defender (sledging e.g.) ask Mum if you can take them too (if it's not too far away). If the kids see another side to you (and the other neighbours) (i.e. not everyone is against them, then maybe you can turn them around and they can see that there is another way to behave (maybe).

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Knee cap the little knuts, that will teach them...

Buy some fireworks, stake them to the ground and use their 4rses as insert firework safely in the ground points, that will teach them...

Beat them both to a bloody pulp, take them to the local homo dogging woods, cable tie their thumbs together round a tree, that will teach them....

If you were Riz, you could leave a note on mums car, that will teach them...

Have a world with mum, talk about the dangers last night could have caused (fire and injury), make sure she understands that the police will be told unless she is prepared to offer a cast iron guarantee that her feral brood will be punished and that all aggravation will cease. Also make her bring the lads over and apologise face to face, again if they are not contrite inform the police and demand that they visit.

I'd chuck in the threat of social services on top.

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Try and get them onside, if you are washing your car, get them to give you a hand (looks like you have some nice pieces of metal (ahem...maybe start with just the wheels). If you are going out in the Defender (sledging e.g.) ask Mum if you can take them too (if it's not too far away). If the kids see another side to you (and the other neighbours) (i.e. not everyone is against them, then maybe you can turn them around and they can see that there is another way to behave (maybe).

Yep, and then get known as the local pedo.

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How old are the kids and how often is the mother away? If they're under 16, you're perfectly within your rights to call social services and flag a concern about their welfare. This doesn't mean anything will happen - social services will come out and interview the mother and kids, but it might help.

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I got the feeling patently was more just telling the story than asking for advice. Although I'm sure he knew he'd get lots of advice anyway...

I actually like what tequilemockingbird says. If they're decent lads at heart and in particular the bullying of your lad hasn't gone too far, trying to make friends of them seems a decent long term strategy. In my experience, confrontation merely breeds confrontation.

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I would suggest just a friendly chat with the mother, I'm guessing it's a reasonably decent and affluent area, so I can't imagine they are your usual feral council estate kids.

Boys will be boys, and things like this will happen, but they need to learn where the line is drawn, and they aren't likely to listen to anyone other than mum.

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We had a right time with some neighbours last year.

Its normally sleepy hollow where we live, but a family started renting one of the houses. The teenage daughters were out of control and the older one was going out with some idiots from a rough as fcuk part of Manchester.

As the dad never seemed to be there and the mother was out all the time, all hell broke lose on our normally sleepy hollow road.

It drove me crackers, as I really wanted to go and smack a couple of these clowns, but knew things would just escalate and I would be the target.....so I just bit my lip.

The Police were called numerous times and it ended up with the road being a high priority instant response. Amongst other things I saw some lads get arrested dealing right next to our house at 3am and another lad in the middle of the afternoon trying to headbutt the Police in handcuffs.

Things were happening every single day, it was ridiculous. However, the Police were really really good and were round in a shot as soon as a call went in and also started putting regular patrols on.

One night there was a huge row and the teen girl disappeared, and it went much quieter after that.

Then the 'To Let' board went up and everyone was delighted when the rest of the family moved out (probably evicted). Once they moved out and everything instantly reverted back to sleepy hollow.

Not something I want happening again - and in this case it was better lying low.

I was so angry sometimes that If I had gone out I am not sure what I would have done....but it would have all ended in tears and I would probably have ended up in trouble just cause of these little scrotes.

Edited by Soulboy
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The two lads are 11 and 13, they have an older brother who stops by now and then.

We've tried the "be nice" routine, inviting them in, trying to involve them in stuff (stopping short of the full pedo routine of course!). That worked for a bit, but then we had more stalking of our son on Halloween, and now this.

I dropped by to talk to the Mother yesterday and bluntly asked her if she was aware that her sons had been throwing fireworks at our house. She claimed it was just one rocket that misfired and went off at an angle, which I dismissed as rubbish because there is just no way the angles work out, there are trees in the way that would have stopped it, and you'd have to be criminally negligent to let it go that far off course anyway and - by the way - was it her that had supervised them during the fireworks?

Apparently she had been supervising them (would be a first...) but they must have nicked one while she wasn't looking...

Anyway, I mentioned possible Plod involvement, and the garage door incident and how I'd been sooo reasonable about that, and she is now suitably terrified.

Later we found two firework carcasses on our drive, neither of them rockets, so the "one rocket misfired" is so obviously bullshit.

Thanks for the comments, good to know I'm in line with what everyone else thinks. It does help. +++

I can't believe we've gone this many posts and no-one has asked if she is hot or not.

Not. Really, not. So not it's untrue. Even Tipex wouldn't be interested.

(Well, OK, Tipex might...)

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