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I am going to cut a very long story short.
Our next door neighbour will shortly finish his second jail sentence for crimes against us. After many times threatening to burn down our house, and then assaulting me (for which no charges were laid as there were no independent witnesses), in 2020 he screamed racist abuse at us and then came round with an iron bar and went round the house smashing every window and glass door. The cost of the damage was c.£16,000. He served 18 months and had an indefinite restraining order imposed to never make contact with us.
A year after returning home, he screamed more threats and abuse. The police attended and heard the abuse. He was arrested and charged with breaching his restraining order. He was sentenced to 16 months custody. He is currently on licence which includes an exclusion zone of about 20 sq miles. This terminates next month and he will then be able to visit, but not live at, his house during an additional four months of post-sentence supervision. He can then return to live at home.
At his last sentencing, the CPS barrister suggested we might be able to have his restraining order amended to prevent him returning to his house after he completes his sentence. He has alcohol and mental health issues and I think the authorities are clear that he continues to pose a serious risk to us.
A barrister friend has put us in contact with a lawyer to advise us, whose fee for a first discussion would be over £1000. Our hunch is that once he has completed his sentence, he cannot be prevented from returning home. We have experience of expensive legal consultations where we are told 'there's not much you can do' and we do not want to pursue a ‘speculative’ case. However, if there is a clear and tested legal path to prevent him returning to his home permanently, we would be interested in knowing this. My question is whether this path exists, and what the legal basis would be?
Our next door neighbour will shortly finish his second jail sentence for crimes against us. After many times threatening to burn down our house, and then assaulting me (for which no charges were laid as there were no independent witnesses), in 2020 he screamed racist abuse at us and then came round with an iron bar and went round the house smashing every window and glass door. The cost of the damage was c.£16,000. He served 18 months and had an indefinite restraining order imposed to never make contact with us.
A year after returning home, he screamed more threats and abuse. The police attended and heard the abuse. He was arrested and charged with breaching his restraining order. He was sentenced to 16 months custody. He is currently on licence which includes an exclusion zone of about 20 sq miles. This terminates next month and he will then be able to visit, but not live at, his house during an additional four months of post-sentence supervision. He can then return to live at home.
At his last sentencing, the CPS barrister suggested we might be able to have his restraining order amended to prevent him returning to his house after he completes his sentence. He has alcohol and mental health issues and I think the authorities are clear that he continues to pose a serious risk to us.
A barrister friend has put us in contact with a lawyer to advise us, whose fee for a first discussion would be over £1000. Our hunch is that once he has completed his sentence, he cannot be prevented from returning home. We have experience of expensive legal consultations where we are told 'there's not much you can do' and we do not want to pursue a ‘speculative’ case. However, if there is a clear and tested legal path to prevent him returning to his home permanently, we would be interested in knowing this. My question is whether this path exists, and what the legal basis would be?
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