Family being harrassed and threatened - not sure how to put a stop to it

[TreesRLovely]

I need advice on how to get an order to stop one of my father-in-law's neighbours from approaching myself, my husband and my children as well as my terminally ill father-in-law.

 

She has been threatening and abusive to us over the past couple of months over a civil matter to do with the birth of a litter of puppies to my father-in-law's bitch that were fathered by her dog. She took responsibility for the care of the puppies and is now refusing to return them unless we pay her £300 for her care provision of the puppies.

 

As my father in law is so unwell he was not able to have looked after the litter and myself and my husband would have had the responsibility for the puppies in addition to caring for him and his well-being, we also both work full time and have our own children and home to look after.

 

We had said that we would look after the puppies as the care for them was relatively minimal - being fed by the mother, cleaned by the mother, etc. All we would be doing would be to ensure that the puppy enclosure was clean and safe.

 

This situation has been reported to the police in terms of the harassment, threats, phone calls, text messages, notes put through the door, shouting at us in the street. Veiled threats are made that she will arrange for her boyfriend or her son to "have a word man-to-man" with my husband.

 

She took the puppies from their mother at just 4 weeks old, without permission, saying that she would hand rear them and that she would return them on 1st August. When the police were informed and this was reported to them as a theft they advised us that it was a civil matter and that we would need to go to a solicitor to request the return of the puppies, if that failed, then to small claims court to request their return.

 

After looking into the possibility it was financially not viable to take the solicitor route and we would just let her sell the 3 puppies and father in law would have the money for 2 of them, she would have the money for 1 of them. It seems I was deluded - she is refusing to return the puppies and I now have no idea if she still has the puppies.

 

We in the meantime are being threatened and harassed over £300 she claims that we now owe her for her taking care of them even though she was not asked to, and in fact was specifically told not to, that we would take care of them.

 

At that point she came to father in law's home, he allowed her in and she just took the puppies away. When we arrived later that morning he had no idea who had been in and no idea where the puppies were.

 

My request for advice primarily is if anyone knows of an order that we can seek to keep her away from all of us, stop her speaking to us and stop her communications via phone, text or notes through the door. The police suggested a non-molestation order but that seems to be for victims of domestic violence in a direct personal relationship with the abuser.

 

I did read somewhere about a protection order for vulnerable adults which might suffice to keep her away from my father in law but cannot remember now where I found the information about that. It would not be suitable to keep her away from my husband, myself or our teenage daughters.

 

I would appreciate any advice on the matter of the abuse she is giving to all of us especially as in his current vulnerable state on 2 occasions my father in law has let her into his home as he forgets that she is not to be allowed in even though he has a note taped to the front door telling him not to let her in.

Edited August 17, 2017 by honeybee13
Paras.

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. People should be along over the course of the day with advice for you.

 

In the meantime, I've popped a few paragraphs into your post to make it easier to follow.

 

Best, HB

[unclebulgaria67]

Did the Police issue any warning letter to the neighbour about ceasing any harassment against your father in law ? The Police have power to do this.

 

Does your father in law have any legal expenses cover with Home Insurance ? Has he checked whether he get any help ?

 

In regard to the dogs issue, it is a civil matter and there is probably a court application your FIL can make. But how quick this would be and whether it would stop the neighbour selling the puppies, i am not sure. Many local Solicitors offer a free half hour of advice to point people in the right direction.

 

Others with more legal knowledge will hopefully add their comments later.

[TreesRLovely]

Police officer informed us that an harassment warning would probably be ineffective in stopping her and that we would be better off getting a "non molestation order" but this is clearly designed for victims of domestic abuse. In an email from the police ", if .... were to breach a non-molestation order, she would be guilty of an offence and can be much more easily dealt with by the criminal justice system, who would also see that she has had fair warning in the form of the order",

 

in a phone conversation he said that breaking an harassment order would just result in her being given a fine and there would be no option for preventing her from staying away from FIL's home. He has no home insurance so no legal expenses cover.

 

Regarding the civil matter of the puppies - to be quite frank the Father In Law is unlikely to survive 3 more months and I would rather focus on him right now than worrying about antagonizing the neighbor - although it will choke me to know that she has got away with this despicable behavior against someone that she knows is vulnerable - in particular someone who because of his dementia would never be able to prove that he did not allow her to take the dogs, or did not agree to her looking after them.

 

My priority is definitely to get the harassment and threatening behavior to stop towards all of us right now and to prevent her from coming to the FIL's house. I did text her and ask her to stop - all that I received was a barrage of abuse in various forms in response and a few days later my husband was confronted by her outside my FIL's home.

Edited August 17, 2017 by honeybee13
Paras.

[renegadeimp]

If he was confronted and you have proof of the abuse, then it becomes a criminal matter. Not civil

[unclebulgaria67]

Probably best not to escalate matters by getting courts involved.

 

Ignore the neighbour totally. Accept that the puppies are gone, as your FIL can't prove he did not let the neighbour have them. If the neighbour wants to sell or keep them, then let her.

 

As long as your FIL still has his dog that gave birth to the pups. If your family want to breed more from his dog, then that is your choice, but not with the neighbours dog.

[TreesRLovely]

Truly I am more than willing to let the puppy issue just go - it really is the ongoing harassment that is still rolling on now weeks later. The matter of the puppies could easily be forgotten but she is now insisting that we owe her £300 for looking after them. This feels like it is any reason for an argument, any excuse for confrontation. The incidents are sometimes fuelled by her drinking but this is not the case every time.

[TreesRLovely]

Still waiting to hear back from the police about this particular incident - she was calling hubby over and when he refused to go towards her she said "someone else will be up later to deal with you, it won't be me next time". There have been previous phone messages left when she threatens that her boyfriend or her son will come and deal with things "like a man" - clearly trying to intimidate or provoke. Each incident has been added to the original crime report and the investigating officer is updated. I am waiting to hear back from him regarding the most recent episode.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Could you try to put some paragraphs into your posts please? I've spaced two of them, but I'm not here all the time.

 

HB

[honeybee13]

Is she ringing on a phone that lets you block her calls?

 

HB

[TreesRLovely]

Hello there.

 

Could you try to put some paragraphs into your posts please? I've spaced two of them, but I'm not here all the time.

 

HB

 

I have tried to put the paragraph spaces in but unfortunately they are there when I type the response but not there when the reply is submitted. I have then tried to edit both the original and also the responses to queries however as soon as the edit is submitted the paragraph spacing disappears - is there a trick to this that I am missing?

[TreesRLovely]

Is she ringing on a phone that lets you block her calls?

 

HB

 

I would gladly block her calls, as would my husband, but we have been asked not to but to let her leave messages as this will provide evidence for the police in the recordings - the police have been sent the recordings of her calls to us and the voice mail messages that she has left us. We do not answer her calls.

[honeybee13]

Right, I see. If you're gathering evidence for the police, that's good though, isn't it? They seem to be taking it seriously.

 

HB