Couple receive horrendous homophobic abuse as they continue to wait over three years for Council to evict abusive neighbour.

‘This has had a huge impact on my mental health, some days I am suicidal. We are desperate for this situation to be resolved.’

A man and his partner have been receiving homophobic abuse for over three years now from their neighbour who causes regular anti social behaviour. Mark and his partner live in Collier Row and have begged Havering Council officers for help. Three years on, and despite being told the neighbour was going to be evicted, nothing has happened and the anti social behaviour and abuse continues.

Mark told the Havering Daily:”She has called us some awful names such as gay c**ts, batty boys and many others. It has been terrible. She has accused me of chemically attacking her when I was outside my property cleaning my windows with a spray. Even this week she came home and had clearly forgotten her keys and saw myself and partner outside our house, so began saying we had stolen her keys and the police were called.

“All we would like is to live our lives in peace like everybody else without having this nightmare situation everyday. It has messed up my mental health, there are some days I am actually suicidal. Luckily my partner is great and very supportive.”

This awful situation began over three years ago.

“When I first moved in with my partner we began hearing lots of banging and crashing noises coming from upstairs. Noises that could clearly be heard over our television it was that loud. We knocked on her door and just asked if everything was okay and if she could please keep the noise down. At that stage, she apologised and blamed her child, stating that she was repeatedly falling off the sofa.

“The noises carried on, it really is very loud and she then became abusive towards us calling us these names. At that point we contacted the council and they agreed to put noise measuring equipment in. We were then told that the woman had been issued with a CPN.

“Another housing officer then told us that despite the noises being so bad, they deemed it acceptable everyday living noises. The situation continued and then finally we were told that they were looking to evict her. Yet here we are three years on and nothing has happened.”

Mark and his partner are at their wits end and struggle to live at their home due to this ongoing situation. They live in constant anxiety and looking over their shoulder to what will happen next.

“It has been terrible. We are desperate for this situation to be resolved now and hope that someone can please help us. We have reported the homophobic abuse to the police but nothing has happened. We have made two complaints to them, but they don’t help and just close our case.”

The Member of Parliament for Romford, Andrew Rosindell has been working with Mark and his partner to get this situation resolved as quickly as possible. Mr Rosindell told the Havering Daily: “I unequivocally condemn all forms of abuse, especially when it occurs within my hometown of Romford. Treating our neighbours as we would treat ourselves is the bedrock on which our communities are built. It’s imperative that we address such behaviour with urgency and sensitivity. My office and I are committed to supporting victims to ensure they feel at home within our community.”

We are waiting for a response from Havering Council.

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