Neighbour Problem

Leesider32 said:

Retaliation isn't really an option as we don't have the time to be annoying her to the degree that would work especially in these confined times whereas it appears to be her life's work when you consider she gets up at night, every night, multiple times to bang on our wall!!

Anyway my plan is as follows, feel free to pick holes in it:

• I have had some traction with the gardai when I mentioned an ASBO, they called down to me Wednesday and I explained the situation at a high level, of course I got the whole thing of we can't do anything only ask her to stop etc. so I said no actually look at the ASBO law, they agreed to call into her last night which they did. They called me to update me, of course she denied banging on the wall but continued to do it last night!
• In the meantime I have sent a letter to the mother saying she is responsible for what happens in her house and I have been engaging with gardai, solicitor and looking at an ASBO. This avenue got us the 8 months peace and quiet the last time.
• The gard is off duty until Tuesday and will be calling me again to see how things went but as per the above she has taken no notice so I am going to suggest that I go through everything with them in detail including the effects it is having on us and that I want to make a statement. Also that we have tried every avenue and the only and strongest option is to go down the ASBO route. I will have all of this written up over the weekend so they have it in writing from me and can't be ignored.
• If I am not getting traction after that I will write directly to the superintendent, ask a sergeant who is a friend of the family in another county could they put in a call, and engage a solicitor. If necessary I will be contacting my local councillor and will be bringing up a person living in a house by themselves with what appears to be mental health issues.

I am aware all of this will take time but that is only if the gardai continue to put roadblocks up.

Btw I have mentioned the ASBO and the law around it to solicitor acquaintances in other legal areas and they say it looks like a very good option to go with.

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Forgive me Leesider32, but you have committed hari-kiri as far as being a neighbour is concerned. I don't disagree with the lengths you have done to try to resolve the situation. But, in dear-old-Ireland things don't run as smoothly as elsewhere. The Gardaí are now involved. I have no doubt they showed up at your door in a garda car with all the trimmings of "Phone your local Garda" etc written on the side. In years to come and when all this is blown over, you're the one who called the Gardaí. You may have been totally right, but that's not the way it will be perceived by the squinting-windows brigade. You'll be blamed for every occasion the Gardaí drove up or down your road.

Again, my only advice to you (late as it is) to get your retaliation in first, a tried and tested Cork Hurling term.

Leper said:

Forgive me Leesider32, but you have committed hari-kiri as far as being a neighbour is concerned. I don't disagree with the lengths you have done to try to resolve the situation. But, in dear-old-Ireland things don't run as smoothly as elsewhere. The Gardaí are now involved. I have no doubt they showed up at your door in a garda car with all the trimmings of "Phone your local Garda" etc written on the side. In years to come and when all this is blown over, you're the one who called the Gardaí. You may have been totally right, but that's not the way it will be perceived by the squinting-windows brigade. You'll be blamed for every occasion the Gardaí drove up or down your road.

Again, my only advice to you (late as it is) to get your retaliation in first, a tried and tested Cork Hurling term.

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Not worried about the squinting-windows brigade, they all know there are issues with her and some have had first hand experience, we get on fine with all of them and have discussed it with the neighbour on the other side of us so the story has got around.

I would love to get a retaliation in first but I strongly believe there are mental health issues at play here and that she feeds off this kind of thing. Trying to figure out what is going on in her head and what would upset her would probably involve me getting too much into character and I am not going down that road!!!

Leper said:

You may have been totally right, but that's not the way it will be perceived by the squinting-windows brigade. You'll be blamed for every occasion the Gardaí drove up or down your road.

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Wow, what kind of criminal enclave are you living in? Why such dislike for Garda presence in the area?

Leo said:

Wow, what kind of criminal enclave are you living in? Why such dislike for Garda presence in the area?

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Fair enough Leo, we all like to see the Gardaí from time to time, but once a Garda calls to a house regarding a minor issue, it is not unusual for the remainder of the road to get up on their high horse whenever it suits.

Leper said:

it is not unusual for the remainder of the road to get up on their high horse whenever it suits.

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Ah, some people are just looking for an excuse to mount that horse. I live in close proximity to some people who would prefer the Gardai stayed away and have had a break-in in the past, so maybe I welcome their presence more than others.

Hi all,

This problem hasn't gone away for us unfortunately but without going into detail into what else is happening I have quite a specific question.

Are there criminal charges we can bring for someone blatantly leaning over and painting on our side of a separating wall? I have this twice on video, also she has painted along the back of our fence and twice painted on our side of where the houses join. I caught her doing that once and she ran into the house.

Thanks

Leesider32 said:

Hi all,

This problem hasn't gone away for us unfortunately but without going into detail into what else is happening I have quite a specific question.

Are there criminal charges we can bring for someone blatantly leaning over and painting on our side of a separating wall? I have this twice on video, also she has painted along the back of our fence and twice painted on our side of where the houses join. I caught her doing that once and she ran into the house.

Thanks

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Is the separating wall a boundary wall or a party wall belonging to both houses and how did the neighbour get near the fence to paint it - did she go into your garden? I dont think painting a wall would be a criminal offence but other posters will know. Maybe a chat with a solicitor and a letter from them to the neighbour will put a stop to the banging on the wall and the other annoyances. You could also demand payment to repair the damage.
Somethimes neighbours can be very selfish and need a reminder that others have rights too. A stern solicitors letter may be all thats needed to sort this out for you without the added hassle and cost of a court case.

To be honest not sure of the difference between the 2 types of walls but this one is a normal separating wall for 2 back gardens for 2 semi-ds, it is 10ft high.

At the front gardens there is a dividing wall around 3ft high, we put up the fence inside this at 6ft high, on our side obviously so clearly on our property.

She has also been abusive out her back window shouting at me, my wife while she was holding our 9 month old, and mocking my niece all at different times while we were in our back garden.

A solicitors letter was sent a couple of years ago but only stops her for a couple of months. As mentioned there are definite mental health issues and she won't stop unless there are serious consequences. I know she has a history of this type of thing in another place she was living.

Gardai promise an asbo but then delay and delay.

Eggs were also recently thrown at the back of our house but we have no evidence to prove it was her unless I was to get csi Ireland and prove the trajectory of the eggs could only have come from her back garden!!!

As you can see a lot of issues but trying to pin her with something that has serious consequences is difficult!!

A nightmare for you. Nothing worse than bad neighbours! Hope it resolves

Shouting at your wife is upsetting for your wife and painting your fence or egging your back wall is definitly a bit odd. She sounds like a really difficult neighbour allright but you're assuming she has mental health issues when she might just be a really cranky oulwan. What kind of serious consequences do you want to pin on her? Even if she does have some mental health illness, there's not much you could do about it, as people with MHI these days live in the community the same as the rest of us. Maybe you could install CCTV front and back to collect evidence and send another solicitors letter with proof of the ASB and a threat of legal action if she doesn't stop.

Just as an example, close friends of ours had neighbours that were abusive, littering, barking dogs, loud music, late parties and general ASB, but the gardai couldnt really do anything about it except they called to the neighbours house a few times over noise. Our friends were tormented and eventually went to court, provided cctv evidence and statements from nearby neighbours and the neighbours denied everything and made excuses to the judge. They said our friends were exagerating, had a persecution complex, were paranoid and suspicious, and were completely over-reacting to the normal activities and noise of family life. They got a fine and a warning. Friends said it made things worse and they ended up selling a while later.
No mental health issues in those neighbours, they were just rude, selfish people who didn't care how their behaviour affected anyone else. Maybe your neighbour is the same and a court case will not resolve anything just make your life more stressful.

Cctv is in at the back now, that's how I have video of her painting on our side.

Serious consequences would be one for criminal damage where she is caught on camera throwing eggs again at our house.

A number of things make me believe she has mental health issues, I have spoken with a number of other neighbours and they are in agreement.

Without going into too much detail she ain't an auld one and her mother calls around (half owns the house) and I have had a chat with the mother who is apologetic but does nothing.

If there are mental health issues at play then it may explain why a solicitor letter hasn’t worked and why other measures have not worked.

In this case I think you will have to go back to the mother and explain that while you have empathy, you have had enough and the neighbour needs the right support and or medication, and that without it now this will escalate very quickly in a way that is lose lose for everyone. The mother needs to be left under no uncertain terms that you won’t tolerate anymore behaviour impacting you, and it’s on her to resolve it if the neighbour is struggling with the capacity to grasp that herself.

I do agree but I suppose the question is how do we escalate it after this? Otherwise we are relying on the mother's willingness to do something about it.

Leesider32 said:

I do agree but I suppose the question is how do we escalate it after this? Otherwise we are relying on the mother's willingness to do something about it.

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IANAL, but considerations of the two options:

Civil route: you seek a High Court injunction stopping her from damaging your property. This may cost you a lot in legal fees but, if granted, would permanently prohibit her from carrying out certain acts to your property.

Criminal route: you turn up at a Garda station and ask to make a statement about criminal damage. The guard on duty will probably have no interest in hearing what you have to say so you will have to insist on making a statement. You provide all evidence (including video), you follow it up with a letter to the Chief Superintendent a month later asking what action will be taken. With this route you don't have much control how it will pan out. AGS may do nothing at all, may just knock on her door to give her a warning, or (unlikely) recommend a prosecution for criminal damage.

In the meantime document absolutely everything she does.

From bitter experience my advice is you can't win this - I took my NDN to court over a noise issue. I got the decision in my favour in the district court. After that all hell broke loose as they extracted revenge in other ways incl. criminal damage to my property on several occasions (under cover of darkness). The guards were called but they c(w)ouldn't do anything. A few years later we moved to a rental and rented the house out for 3 years. We then returned after this period as we were sick of renting and there was no hassle from the same NDN - it was as if the break was a circuit breaker and they never really bothered us again. But in Ireland don't think you will be protected by the guards or the courts. Just try to keep the peace !