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I would be very grateful if somebody here could advise me on a matter that is causing me a lot of distress. Very briefly, my housing association had for some time been threatening me with eviction and making allegations of antisocial behaviour that were completely false. I'm someone who has prided himself on having a spotless character all his life, so if anything, the allegations distressed me even more than the threat of losing my home.
The HA were doing this because I had twice (very unwisely, I see now) tried to sue them for negligence as a Litigant In Person. They were using allegations from other tenants whom they knew had their own agenda, but whenever I supplied evidence that showed their allegations were untrue, the HA just ignored me.
It got to the stage where I decided to take the HA to Court for harassment (that was the tort I thought applied, as I am not a lawyer) and felt that if I won, this would dispense with all those horrible allegations that had damaged my good name. I am on benefits, so I was trying to find a solicitor who would take my case on a conditional fee arrangement, but while I was doing this, the HA forestalled me by making an ASB injunction application against me; as it was made under the 2014 Antisocial Behaviour, crime and Policing Act, I knew that if they got it, and managed to make one further false allegation stick, I would lose my home. I think the HA were just trying for this ASB injunction as a step to evicting me, because ever since I took it to Court, it has been itching to evict me.
I went to Court determined to defend the case, because I knew I had done nothing wrong. But just after she arrived, my barrister took me into an interview room, and the way she treated me shocks me even now. Right from the beginning of this pre-trial meeting, she tried to persuade me to offer an undertaking, even though she already knew I was dead set against it. I was adamant that I wanted to defend the case instead (my solicitor had previously spent months trying to get me to offer an undertaking, and I'd always refused, telling them it was out of the question), but she just would not stop. First, she told me that if my witnesses gave their testimony, 'things would get really nasty' in Court, then said, "And remember, you've all got to go home again and try to live with one another". She knew that my witnesses had already been subjected to witness intimidation by friends of the HA's witnesses, and were both in a vulnerable mental state, so I think she was using emotional blackmail here.
I was still determined to defend the case, but then she said something astonishing: she said that, in effect, the judge would probably impose an injunction on me even if he thought there was no evidence of antisocial behaviour on my part. She said all the judge would want from the hearing was peace, and he'd reason that the only two ways he could achieve this was either by imposing an ASB injunction on me, or imposing it on another tenant who was the HA's main witness. She said that the judge could not impose an injunction on her, as it was not in the HA's application, so he would impose it on me. I kept telling her that I hadn't done anything wrong, but it made no difference. She actually said that even if the judge could see that the testimony against me was highly suspect, he would still probably impose an injunction on me, just because he wanted peace. She said she was a highly experienced barrister, and that 'her money was on me going home tonight with an injunction'. Then she started reminding me of how much closer I'd be to losing my home if I got the injunction, adding "and I know that's your worst nightmare".
I am absolutely certain now that my barrister seriously misled me, but that morning, believing I had so much to lose, I trusted her advice implicitly, and offered that undertaking. However, I insisted that there was a clause in it saying that in signing it, I was not admitting to the truth of any of the HA's allegations. The judge watched me sign that undertaking, completely unaware of what had gone on in that interview room.
Since then I have bitterly regretted signing that undertaking, because my HA has taken every opportunity to use it to claim that I had been shown to be an antisocial person, and every time I try to stand up for myself, it uses the undertaking to threaten me. Worst of all, a barrister recently told me that this undertaking would make it difficult for me to take all this back into Court so as to test my HA's allegations and threats, and decide once and for all whether I have done anything wrong. It seems I have no way of clearing my name, and all because I followed misleading advice.
Sorry this has been such a long post, but I needed to give you all some context.
So, the reason I'm posting is to ask: is there any way I can bring this undertaking back before the Court, tell a judge how badly misled I was and (if s/he believed me), get the undertaking set aside? The undertaking said that the ASB injunction application would be adjourned 'with permission to restore' if I breached it. If the permission to restore were on both sides (Idon't know if it is or not), I would gladly grant it to my HA, and give my full agreement to its bringing this ASB application back into Court, because I am certain that I was misled about a judge imposing an injunction regardless of the evidence, just to bring peace. I fully realise that if I fought that injunction application, things might go against me and I might wind up with an injunction, as unfair things do happen, but that is a chance I would willingly take in order to vindicate myself and have my HA's allegations tested and shown for what they were.
So, is there any mechanism for doing this sort of thing? I'd be grateful for any advice here.
The HA were doing this because I had twice (very unwisely, I see now) tried to sue them for negligence as a Litigant In Person. They were using allegations from other tenants whom they knew had their own agenda, but whenever I supplied evidence that showed their allegations were untrue, the HA just ignored me.
It got to the stage where I decided to take the HA to Court for harassment (that was the tort I thought applied, as I am not a lawyer) and felt that if I won, this would dispense with all those horrible allegations that had damaged my good name. I am on benefits, so I was trying to find a solicitor who would take my case on a conditional fee arrangement, but while I was doing this, the HA forestalled me by making an ASB injunction application against me; as it was made under the 2014 Antisocial Behaviour, crime and Policing Act, I knew that if they got it, and managed to make one further false allegation stick, I would lose my home. I think the HA were just trying for this ASB injunction as a step to evicting me, because ever since I took it to Court, it has been itching to evict me.
I went to Court determined to defend the case, because I knew I had done nothing wrong. But just after she arrived, my barrister took me into an interview room, and the way she treated me shocks me even now. Right from the beginning of this pre-trial meeting, she tried to persuade me to offer an undertaking, even though she already knew I was dead set against it. I was adamant that I wanted to defend the case instead (my solicitor had previously spent months trying to get me to offer an undertaking, and I'd always refused, telling them it was out of the question), but she just would not stop. First, she told me that if my witnesses gave their testimony, 'things would get really nasty' in Court, then said, "And remember, you've all got to go home again and try to live with one another". She knew that my witnesses had already been subjected to witness intimidation by friends of the HA's witnesses, and were both in a vulnerable mental state, so I think she was using emotional blackmail here.
I was still determined to defend the case, but then she said something astonishing: she said that, in effect, the judge would probably impose an injunction on me even if he thought there was no evidence of antisocial behaviour on my part. She said all the judge would want from the hearing was peace, and he'd reason that the only two ways he could achieve this was either by imposing an ASB injunction on me, or imposing it on another tenant who was the HA's main witness. She said that the judge could not impose an injunction on her, as it was not in the HA's application, so he would impose it on me. I kept telling her that I hadn't done anything wrong, but it made no difference. She actually said that even if the judge could see that the testimony against me was highly suspect, he would still probably impose an injunction on me, just because he wanted peace. She said she was a highly experienced barrister, and that 'her money was on me going home tonight with an injunction'. Then she started reminding me of how much closer I'd be to losing my home if I got the injunction, adding "and I know that's your worst nightmare".
I am absolutely certain now that my barrister seriously misled me, but that morning, believing I had so much to lose, I trusted her advice implicitly, and offered that undertaking. However, I insisted that there was a clause in it saying that in signing it, I was not admitting to the truth of any of the HA's allegations. The judge watched me sign that undertaking, completely unaware of what had gone on in that interview room.
Since then I have bitterly regretted signing that undertaking, because my HA has taken every opportunity to use it to claim that I had been shown to be an antisocial person, and every time I try to stand up for myself, it uses the undertaking to threaten me. Worst of all, a barrister recently told me that this undertaking would make it difficult for me to take all this back into Court so as to test my HA's allegations and threats, and decide once and for all whether I have done anything wrong. It seems I have no way of clearing my name, and all because I followed misleading advice.
Sorry this has been such a long post, but I needed to give you all some context.
So, the reason I'm posting is to ask: is there any way I can bring this undertaking back before the Court, tell a judge how badly misled I was and (if s/he believed me), get the undertaking set aside? The undertaking said that the ASB injunction application would be adjourned 'with permission to restore' if I breached it. If the permission to restore were on both sides (Idon't know if it is or not), I would gladly grant it to my HA, and give my full agreement to its bringing this ASB application back into Court, because I am certain that I was misled about a judge imposing an injunction regardless of the evidence, just to bring peace. I fully realise that if I fought that injunction application, things might go against me and I might wind up with an injunction, as unfair things do happen, but that is a chance I would willingly take in order to vindicate myself and have my HA's allegations tested and shown for what they were.
So, is there any mechanism for doing this sort of thing? I'd be grateful for any advice here.