You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I am in a bit of a quandary and hoping STW might offer some advice.
We have neighbors over the road who are travelers (even though they never travel).
The chap is a rather large bloke and we have never had any issue with him. He is known for being pretty violent though to the point of it being reported in the papers once. He works away and is not often home.
The woman on the other hand is an odious old hag who has caused no end of grief in the street. She can often be heard screaming and shouting down the phone at her husband at all hours of the day and night, playing weird country and western god bothering music in her car on the driveway late into the night. She lets the kids run riot all the time (they don't go to school). It is not uncommon for the young children (6-10 years old) to be left alone all day and occasionally over/late into the night. They have been banned from keeping animals due to abusing them. She even put in his car window with a brick the other day. Often she'll leave the car running on the driveway for hours at a time regardless of time of day.
I have spoken said lady a number of times about the noise (just asking her politely to turn the volume down, always after 11pm which I think is a fair cutoff time) and been told to **** off, told I am rude and ignorant, told she doesn't care if she keeps us and our young daughter up all night, threatened with violence against us and our property.
To sum up she is a thoroughly unpleasant witch.
Anyway, I am pretty sure she gets beaten during the fights they have when he's home. I have heard her shouting about this before. Last night they had a big bust up and I heard her shouting "Don't, please don't" followed by screaming and wailing. I have never actually seen him hit her nor has she any visible bruising.
Now my dilemma is: Bearing in mind I don't want to face the wrath of the gypsy community and I have no desire to help this woman in any way due to her attitude and they way she has treated everyone else in the street. Do I call the police and report it? I still feel obligated to do something.
Call the police and social services.
This family will already be 'known' to them - the more you can do to help build a picture the more help
a) the children will receive
b) she will get.
However she behaves and however much you dislike her no one deserves to be in an abusive relationship.
I'd not ignore it, based mostly on the fact there are kids involved.
Social Services would be my first call.
You're a braver man than I if you do on the basis of no visible evidence of abuse. Regardless of your praiseworthy wishes to help her, you will have to move if you and your family become the focus of their antisocial behaviour.
The traveller thing is not a factor. They are simply an antisocial, potentially violent family. Every town has them by the dozen, and sadly, there is not a great deal the authorities can do about it.
Personally, I'd be looking at the current age of her pack of feral children, and working out how long I had to sell my house before it became completely unsellable (ie when her kids hit teenagerdom).
Regardless of your praiseworthy wishes to help her,
OP clearly stated that he has no desire to help her.
Otherwise I agree, have you considered moving?
OP clearly stated that he has no desire to help her.
Fair enough. Feels a moral obligation, which is still praiseworthy, and theoretically the correct thing to do. In practice, not sure I'd recommend it, given the risk of his identity being partially or completely revealed by whatever copper wanders over to respond to the domestic.
If its a council /local authority house ring/ email them .our council operate a 3 strike rule , seems to work locally .
Personally I'd either keep quiet or be prepared to move, if anything I'd be reporting the kids being out of school and unsupervised rather than possible domestic violence against the wife.
I'd keep shtum I think. It is a moral dilemma, how would you/I/we feel if something goes badly wrong in the future etc. But if you are planning to remain living in the area then you really don't want to become their target for any retribution.
IMO.
I know it's easy for me to say, but I'd move mate, life's too short and dicks will be dicks.
Move if an option. If they own the house not much can be done really. Travellers have their reputation for very good reasons in my experience. If social housing make complaint to landlords on proviso of complete anonymity. Go to their offices not them visiting you at home. Same with the police. Or he kills her and goes to prison and peace and normal life resume.
We were in a very similar position a few years back, which culminated in us moving.
House next to us (we were end of terrace, they were next ones in) was sold to a haulage company, who bought it to rent out to their drivers.
First inhabitants were 5 x Polish guys who were awesome, however after a year they moved out and this couple moved in.
The alternated between loud fights and loud sex, often in the same night, she was a drinker and had been thrown out by him several times.
One night they had a hug row and he chucked her out in her underwear, she broke back into the house via the front window with a shovel.
I called the police and they took her away.
The following day she was out and came back to scratch 'Paedo' in the bonnet of his Shogun with a screwdriver.
A week later she'd moved back in.
We decided we were never going to win so cut our losses before our house became difficult to sell.
No regrets - life is too short.
Personally I'd report it. Anonymously if possible.
You may not like her, but her own bad behaviour may be directly related to the abuse she receives. And even if you (understandably) don't give a shit about her, there are young kids involved that deserve better.
Get the kids taken away, anything is better than their current situation.
We only moved here last year. I have no intention of moving as we have a lovely house and garden and I will not be cowed into changing what I have due to some antisocial bint.
Whilst I have no desire to help her I feel I have a moral obligation to do so.
With respect to the kids, there is one older boy who pretty much lives away with the bloke, 2 girls about 18 and 14 and 2 younger ones (boy and girl aged about 6-8). It is only the younger 2 which are a problem. Nuisance is probably a better word. mostly things like throwing rubbish over into their neighbors gardens, running across the gardens etc. they did have a quad they would rag up and down the pavements but that is gone now thankfully (I did report that to the police as it was bloody dangerous) The older kids are pretty good to be honest.
All the problem stem from the woman.
Like said above though I don't want to become the focus of her hate. At the moment she is a tolerable pain in the arse. I don't want it to move beyond that plus I don't want to get belted by the bloke and his mates as I got him arrested if reported.
Document everything. Dates, times, duration, details of what happened. Start now. Without that, you have nothing.
Night hours are 11pm - 7am, if they're being noisy between those hours then they're breaking the law.
Get a couple of months' worth, take it to the council and social services.
FYI I don't think this is an actual moral dilemma. It's just the OP is intimidated by scum. It's more a how the hell do I fix this? You have my sympathies mate.
Worth bearing in mind that she may know exactly what she's doing by shouting "oh please don't, no" etc at volumes that can be heard by people outside.
Just a thought.
If you report the problems are you then obligated to let your potential buyers know?
Have a word with him - best way IME
He won’t like it and his “reputation “ because of her going down.
Is he is a proper traveller thenitll change.
If he’s just pond life then deal with the way they know.
Have a word with him - best way IME
He won’t like it and his “reputation “ because of her going down.
Is he is a proper traveller thenitll change.
I wonder what subtle methods he would use to try to change her behaviour, given what OP has heard, and read about in the papers?
Worth bearing in mind that she may know exactly what she's doing by shouting "oh please don't, no" etc at volumes that can be heard by people outside.Just a thought.
It's certainly possible. I'm just going to say 'victim blaming' before some dull witted twonk chimes in with it :roll:.
Just report it anonymously. Plenty of methods for doing so
Reported to social services from an anonymous email address. Hope it all gets sorted for them despite her attitude.