A couple have been served with court banning orders and have been told that they will be arrested if they enter Park House, Droylsden, after they caused distress to vulnerable residents by shouting, swearing and arguing there at night and setting off the fire alarms. It is believed that the couple moved in with their elderly relative in her 1-bedroom flat before Christmas, after being evicted from their private rented tenancy in Tameside.
Complaints were soon received by the Johnnie Johnson Housing and the police that the couple were living at the scheme and that they were disturbing elderly neighbours at night with their aggressive arguing, shouting and swearing. One elderly resident said she was “scared to death” by what she could sometimes hear. On two occasions the smoke alarm was activated inside the flat during the night. This caused the alarms to go off throughout the whole scheme, waking everyone up, and the fire brigade to attend.
Kathryn Bradbury, Head of Operations at Johnnie Johnson Housing, said: “The safety, security and wellbeing of our residents is paramount to the team here at Johnnie Johnson Housing. While it isn’t normal practice to gain this type of order, we felt that in order to minimise the distress and disruption caused as a result of these incidents; gaining the order was the best possible course of action. Johnnie Johnson Housing has an incredible reputation for providing quality homes in good locations with outstanding services and ensuring our residents are happy in their homes is vital to our organisation. We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour at our schemes and will take legal action whenever necessary to stop it.”
Kathryn then added “The couple kept a low profile during the day so as to avoid being seen by the scheme manager. We provided the couple in question with details about where they could go for help with their housing needs and we asked them to voluntarily leave Park House. When they refused the Trust took the relevant legal action against them. Despite constantly denying that they were living at Park House, they were served with the injunction orders on the morning of 24th March – after being found in bed at the flat at Park House.
Emma Burgess-Priest, Solicitor at Whiteheads Ltd, then added: “The above case demonstrates how quickly an injunction order can be obtained for the protection of residents. Due to the fantastic work of the Johnnie Johnson Housing (JJH) staff in investigating complaints and with the assistance of Whiteheads Solicitors, an injunction order with Power of Arrest attached to certain clauses, was obtained without any notice having been given to the Respondents and the final Injunction Order was obtained in just over one week. This should go as a warning to any other resident who engages in anti-social behaviour (ASB) at JJHs premises, or allows their visitors to engage in ASB, as this behaviour will not be tolerated. JJH will exercise their powers under the relevant legislation and can amongst other ASB tackling tools, secure an anti-social behaviour injunction for the protection of their residents and the communities”.