We will issue you with Incident Records to record the nuisance and anti-social behaviour that you are living with. As part of our agreed course of action, we might need other types of evidence. This will mean we will use our resources to possibly take photographs, record events on CCTV or hidden cameras etc.
The best person to record this behaviour is you. If other people have witnessed the problem we will need evidence from them as well. If it is required, we will take witness statements to build up our case. Without witnesses, it will be very difficult to take the case much further. It is important to remember that we are now working in partnership with you and you are not dealing with this on your own.
Dealing with the person causing the problem (Action)
If a case is very serious we will take legal action straight away. If the witness statements and evidence show us that anti social behaviour is a problem, we will take action. The first step we will take will be to speak to the person causing the problem and tell them to stop being a nuisance or risk legal action. If you would rather we did not do this then we will not speak to them. If you did want us to speak to them, we would confirm our conversation with them by sending a "first and final warning letter". In most of the cases we deal with, this approach usually solves the problem.
Legal action (Resolution)
If this approach doesn’t solve the problem, or the problem needs to be dealt with immediately because it is urgent, we will start legal action. Some legal action can be taken very quickly and we are prepared to do this. When we go to court, we will ask the court for:
- an injunction – this is a court order that instructs the person causing the anti social behaviour to stop behaving in this way. Some injunctions granted by the court can be given within hours of the offence and some give the police specific powers to arrest the person if they do not behave. If the injunction is broken continuously the person could end up in prison.
- an anti social behaviour order (ASBO) – this bans the person causing the problem from coming into specific areas and hanging around with certain named friends. If the order is broken continuously the person could end up in prison.
- an eviction order – this would be granted against our tenant (our tenants are responsible for the behaviour of their guests, including children).
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