Advice on escalating intimidation issue

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bullwinkle

Registered User
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Hi there

Just looking for some advice on an issue involving a relative.

There is an ongoing property dispute between my brother and his immediate neighbour (rural area).

The dispute is subject to court proceedings so I can't go into ins and outs of it at the moment, however it is becoming more and more likely to all involved that my brother will probably win the case.

Now, all along in this case there have been nasty little things done by the other side, glass outside house on path, driving by very very slowly and staring in at family in garden etc, telling locals lies.

My brother has ignored everything to date because of ongoing court action, however as he may well win this now, we believe that the intimidation will increase somewhat and he wants to know how best to protect himself and property from this.

He is mainly concerned that they will do something like enter property, have an accident claim insurance etc these people are very vindictive and they will not take a loss well. Essentially what we are wondering is.... can he go to the Gardai and just get a record going of little things they are doing just to build a file so that if something serious happens the gardai will have a background?

Is this something that can be done or will gardai tell him that unless there is a serious threat etc they can do nothing? .

He just wants something on record about these guys so what is the best way to do this?

thanks in advance for all replies
 
you should make an appointment with the local garda as they may decide to have a quiet word with both parties in the hope of calming things down before they get out of control.

You would probably be advised to keep a diary of issues but the best approach would be to get the issue mediated so as to avoid long term issues. They will have to live next to each other after the trial so mediation may be the best approach
 
Hi, mediation not an option as despite repeated requests by my brother they have refused all offers of mediation. These people are very very vindictive (i'm sorry I cannot go into more details) and they will never back down and have said so to other neighbors - they are nasty people and unfortunately my brother is stuck with them. There is no talking to them so that's completely out. The reality is...as it stands they have not done anything illegal per say it's just intimidation of a sort which we believe will escalate. He has kept diary so far - he hasn't gone to gardai yet as he really does not want to waste their time but yet he also needs to protect himself. It's really a case of getting everything on record so is it advisable to go to the gardai and report every little thing? will the gardai take a note of it?
 
What does your brothers solicitor advise?

bullwinkle said:
They have not done anything illegal per say it's just intimidation of a sort which we believe will escalate.
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I think it unlikely that the Guards would be willing to get involved in what is essentially a civil matter. They certainly wont want to get involved in a case where a crime hasnt happened.

Your brother could document any alleged incidents himself or hire a private investigator to assemble such a file.
 

Not always the case as most parts of the country now have Community Liason officers who do get involved in this type of issue
 
intimidation is not a civil matter. being intimidated approaching a court case may be seen as trying to pervert the course of justice.

Now, all along in this case there have been nasty little things done by the other side, glass outside house on path, driving by very very slowly and staring in at family in garden etc, telling locals lies.
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that is not civil matter
 
brother doesn't want to have it investigated by gardai or even make a formal complaint which would require them to have a word with neighbors but he does want somewhere to document the intimidation should it ever rear it's head again. The scenario we picture is that at some point one of them will fake an accident etc on the premises say they tripped (they have done this to another individual we know of) and then put in a claim - brother wants to have a record (if possible with the gardai) of repeated warnings to them to stay off his property, records of any/all trespass and intimidation etc in order to defend any case they might instigate. My question is this: will the gardai if asked by a member of the public - keep a record of incidents which happen between him and neighbors i.e record date and time of incident and the fact that it was reported to the local gardai.
 
The only way is to make the situation known to the Gardai. Your brother can do this by going to them stating what is happening and that he is keeping a written record. He can state that he does not want the Gardai to take it further at this point but the issue will be registered with them in any case if something does happen. They might well say that as it stands it is a civil matter, until a criminal issue occurs, but they will make a record.
 
I do not see how he can expect to have something recorded by the garda if he does not want the garda involved


My question is this: will the gardai if asked by a member of the public - keep a record of incidents which happen between him and neighbors i.e record date and time of incident and the fact that it was reported to the local gardai
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but you said he does not want it reported to the garda? and i do not know but i doubt if the garda will keep a diary for him. but you could ask them
 
correct but op says his brother does not want to do that?
 
Hi bullwinkle
was in a situation with neighbours a few years ago - didn't go to the guards for over a year and when we did we were told by the garda that we should have gone long before, so my advice is for your brother to go immediately. The guard we spoke to was absolutely excellent. We had already made up our minds to move at that stage but we wanted to be able to move without further harrassment. It was a semi rural area and we went to the guards in the nearest big town. They take complaints very seriously as they do not want situations to escalate or get out of control leading to tragedy. I wish myself we had gone 18 months before we did. We did phone them in panic at initial stages but then we asked them not to come out because we thought it might make it worse. Might have saved ourselves 18 months of intimidation... best of luck to your brother
 
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