What can I do about neighbours kids?

Donutz

Hi there. Sorry for the long post. Hoping somebody can give me some advice.

We live in a small open plan estate. There is a wall that separates us from our neighbours to our right. This wall runs from the footpath right down the side of our house. Down this side is our ESB meter box and the box that houses the phone line that comes into the house.

Last week we came home to find the door of our phone line box was taken off and just thrown in the street. The cables had been pulled out (although not disconnected) and some of our dry wall insulation had been pulled out on to the street.

A couple of days later, my wife caught a little girl of 4 at the phone line box again pulling out some more insulation. This girl has been staying next door to us the past few weeks but as far as we know she is not the daughter. Most likely a relative though. My wife hunted her and told her not to come back in to our garden. The girl spoke back to my wife with some foul language.

Today while we were watching tv we noticed a few kids walk into our garden and up the side of our house. I ran out to see what they were up to and low and behold there was the little 4 year old with 2 younger kids attacking the phone line once more.

Our next door neighbours aren't the most upstanding of citizens and when my wife went next door to ask the lady of the house to keep this little girl off our property she was told to f**k off out of her driveway and the girl is only 4 so what do you want me to do about it?

We've had numerous incidents with her older kids coming into our drive and damaging our property and cars in the past, and although we could go a few months without incident, low and behold it will all kick off again.

Guards seem powerless as these kids are all under 12 years old. Council don't seem too bothered about it either. Other neighbours have approached the landlord about them but he doesn't seem too bothered about it.

Any advice is appreciated.

P.S. does anybody know if exposed phone lines could pose a danger to anybody?

mad m

Tricky one...Kids are kids and parents should be responsible for them. Is your neighbour a council tenant? You should keep ringing up council to complain and ask them to log complaint.

Anyway you can silicone cover shut so kid cant open it.

seagull

First point is whether your neighbours own the house or are renting. If renting, get their landlord's details, and complain about anti-social behaviour. It is the landlord's responsibility to act on anti-social behaviour by tenants.

Can you block the lane, even temporarily and they will probably get bored.

Donutz

Thanks for the replies. It's not possible to block the lane. Even if we did we would still have problems with some older kids coming in our driveway running in between our cars kicking cars and kicking front door. Generally being a nuisance.

As for the landlord, he doesn't care as long as he is getting his monthly income.

They are RAS tenants and although we've complained about antisocial behaviour to RAS on numerous occasions, nothing seems to have been done.

Am seriously considering installing CCTV but I'm not convinced that anybody will do anything even with video evidence.

Michael D Not Higgins

A third party complaint on anti-social behaviour can be taken to the RTB.

punisher5112

Report to gardai, social services for the kids. They must be supervised.

I Would keep up going in if needs be.

Play a little dumb on what box contains and fear they will be electrocuted.

Be nice but firm they hate people coming in.

Ms Doubtfire1

1) Change the door (if you can) on the phone box to say 'careful high voltage'.
or you could report it to the telephone company (with pictures) as it's their property
2) report the parents as irresponsible to social services directly.

Things like that need to be nipped in the butt now before the issue gets out of hand when they get older unless you fancy moving.

What about a gate at the entrance to your drive?

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This post has been deleted.

punisher5112

Also put up a CCTV camera gotten very cheap these days.

Look up likes of a trail cam they run on batteries and SD card so no worrying about cables or units to record. They about £72.

Tails142

Good fences make good neighbours.

Get a lock on the door to the box if you can, they are available instead of the triangular key or whatever is on it now

punisher5112

....... wrote: »

This and some heavy bushes along perimeters.

Plus a cage over the electricity/phone boxes.

Alternatively, contact the phone box providers and ask them to put it somewhere that children cant access it.

Just for fun I would paint the whole box with anti climb paint and let the child get it all over herself.

Dog **** works much better.

ZaffizaKunt

....... wrote: »

Just for fun I would paint the whole box with anti climb paint and let the child get it all over herself.

I'd do the same, great idea.

punisher5112

ZaffizaKunt wrote: »

I'd do the same, great idea.

Until they smear it all over your walls and car.

Tell the parents as I said you fear of their safety and you will have to push for criminal damage.

Put a few glasses of vinegar around it so they will get covered in it.

Stiletto72

Water pistol with vinegar in it?
One of those super soakers.

Stiletto72

Stiletto72 wrote: »

Water pistol with vinegar in it?
One of those super soakers.

No. These are 2 and 4 years old!

OP. Wash around the area every day with Jeyes Fluids. Ragazzi hate the smell

LiberateTutemae

Hi there OP,

that's a difficult and stressful situation. It's very important you have no further contact with the parents or their kids from now on. Simply don't engage. Don't give the situation oxygen. You cannot apply civil society rules to uncivil people because they reject society and its rules.

If you complain to authorities you risk becoming the local entertainment or sport for the unsavory characters and their kids in the area. Do not involve the Gardai as they will be obliged to visit the kids parents thus inflaming the situation further. Gards know that they will end up having to go back to visit the area multiple times if this is the route your pursue, and nothing will be done, except more damage to your property.

If I were you, if you could afford it buy yourselves a mosquito which is approximately 600e or else go for a much cheaper alternative which doesn't require wiring for 99 sterling. Not sure I can post links here so just copy and paste the url below into google search and you will find the website. You can turn on and off the unpleasant but harmless sound( audible only to kids under 16) aiming it at the side passage or front garden, until they get the message.

If they question if you have a device, unlike the mosquito which is wired outdoors on the side of your property, the cheaper version can be turned on and off from you windowsill discreetly which prevent them from making a complaint about it. If there is no visible device, the local council etc cannot act. Best of luck with it.

abcfireandsecurity.co.uk/Teenager%20Dispersal.htm?gclid=COfW6KC2vdQCFU-37Qodo48EvA

EletricMan

Hi Op I have no advice for you only keep a eye on the esb cabinet, the last thing you need is them gaining access to that!

pwurple

I would have huge concern for that child's safety. This sounds like neglect.

A lone four year old with foul language, wandering the streets unsupervised, with unidentifiable guardians, is pulling electrical cables out, sometimes with 2 younger children in tow?

I'd be on the phone to TUSLA , the local social workers, and child welfare in a flash.

Here are some links:
http://www.tusla.ie/children-first/how-do-i-report-abuse
http://www.tusla.ie/services/child-protection-welfare/contact-a-social-worker

LiberateTutemae

pwurple wrote: »

I would have huge concern for that child's safety. This sounds like neglect.

A lone four year old with foul language, wandering the streets unsupervised, with unidentifiable guardians, is pulling electrical cables out, sometimes with 2 younger children in tow?

I'd be on the phone to TUSLA , the local social workers, and child welfare in a flash.

Here are some links:

This is precisely the type of advice that if taken will start WW3 with your uncivil neighbours.
Who do you think they will come looking for after they receive a visit from Tusla? You'd be lucky not to have your house burned to the ground if as you said they also have older kids who have already damaged your car.

MysticMonk

We had similar issues in my area with a family of troublemakers.

You must report ALL crime to the landlord,the guards, the local authority and ( although I'm not political) your elected Govt representative..they have a surprising amount of power at local level.

The idea of kids nicking electrical wire from somebody's home is an absolute disgrace. Your taxes are funding their lifestyle,let it fund their eviction too.

pwurple

LiberateTutemae wrote: »

This is precisely the type of advice that if taken will start WW3 with your uncivil neighbours.
Who do you think they will come looking for after they receive a visit from Tusla? You'd be lucky not to have your house burned to the ground if as you said they also have older kids who have already damaged your car.

The very first link is how to make an anonymous report.

That child could be killed by a passing car, or electrocuted, or long-term, turned into a career criminal because everyone who saw it turned a blind eye to obvious neglect.

This is the cowardly attitude which let the abuse of thousands of children continue in case of upsetting the neighbours.

LiberateTutemae

pwurple wrote: »

The very first link is how to make an anonymous report.

That child could be killed by a passing car, or electrocuted, or long-term, turned into a career criminal because everyone who saw it turned a blind eye to obvious neglect.

This is the cowardly attitude which let the abuse of thousands of children continue in case of upsetting the neighbours.

The OP is a home owner, NOT a social justice warrior. The only person those neighbours will blame in the event of an anonymous report to Tusla is the nearest scapegoat figures i.e. the OP. More than likely Tusla are already aware of the family if they have engaged in anti social behavior before.

Zenify

No climb paint. look it up, great stuff for deterring little f**kers.

sondagefaux

Do you own your house? Whether you do or not is irrelevant but if you do it will make it easier for you to sue the landlord. 
Before beginning the suit, keep a detailed diary of all incidents, take photos and/or video clips as evidence.
Continue to make polite complaints to the parents in writing, keep copies of all notes you give to the parents. 
As you've pointed out, the parents aren't taking any action to control their kids so it seems unlikely they're going to take any action to control them even if you ask them politely.
Every time you note anti-social behaviour and/or petty vandalism by the kids, every time you complain to the parents, follow this up with evidence and complaints to your local authority, to the landlord in writing. 
If both of them ignore you or say they can't do anything, get in touch with a solicitor, give copies of your notes about anti-social behaviour etc, plus copies of all your correspondence to the local authority/landlord, to your solicitor, and get your solicitor to threaten to sue.
The basis of the suit? The failure of the local authority and the landlord to take measures to prevent the anti-social behaviour by your neighbours' children has impinged on your human rights, in particular the human right to property, including the human right to peaceful enjoyment of your property.
You cannot sue an individual, such as your landlord, in the European Court of Human Rights for failure to respect your human rights.
However, you can sue the state (or a state body, such as a local authority) for failure to protect your human rights, even if they aren't the direct cause of the breach of your human rights.
Therefore, any failure by the local authority to protect your human rights to peaceful enjoyment of your property, including failure to ensure that the landlord meets his legal obligations towards you and in respect of trying to prevent his tenants' anti-social behaviour, can be litigated on  human rights grounds.
The grounds on which you threaten to sue the landlord are slightly different - his failure to control or prevent his tenants' anti-social behaviour is causing a nuisance, a tort in itself, and the anti-social behaviour may affect the resale value of your home (should you choose to sell it) which is a potential breach of your property rights in both Irish law and European human rights law.
Don't mess about with vinegar or any other nonsense - get a solicitor involved and scare the crap out of the local authority and the landlord.
If you convince them that you're serious about legal action, they will get their backsides in gear and get rid of those tenants asap.
Once they're gone, get your solicitor to inform the local authority and the landlord in the strongest terms that you will not put up with anti-social tenants as neighbours and that you will sue again if the landlord permits his tenants to engage in anti-social behaviour and if neither he nor the local authority takes action to prevent it.
Too many landlords don't give a damn how their tenants upset people in neighbouring properties as long as they get their rent.
The only way to get these bad landlords to take notice is to threaten to hit them in a way they'll take notice of, by threatening to sue them.
Money is all these guys care about. If they think they might lose a large sum of money because of the behaviour of their tenants, they'll get rid of the tenants. 
Here's an article about property rights under the European Convention on Human Rights;
http://echr-online.info/right-to-property-article-1-of-protocol-1-to-the-echr/introduction/
Property rights under the Irish constitution:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/irish_constitution_1/constitution_fundamental_rights.html
If you don't want to go down the legal route, a gate to close off your driveway and a cage around the ESB cabinet etc might just work to keep these kids away from/off your property.

ED E

Donutz wrote: »

P.S. does anybody know if exposed phone lines could pose a danger to anybody?

Nah, its 48v low current.



Get a rottweiler.

spaceHopper

You will get a mild but harmless shock of a phone line, sometimes only if it's ringing.

Might just be easier to secure the box better. Screw it shut or put a painted steel plate in front of it.

denis160

....... wrote: »

This and some heavy bushes along perimeters.

Plus a cage over the electricity/phone boxes.

Alternatively, contact the phone box providers and ask them to put it somewhere that children cant access it.

Just for fun I would paint the whole box with anti climb paint and let the child get it all over herself.

Having the same repeatedly for the past couple of years where would you get anti climb paint?

endacl

denis160 wrote: »

Having the same repeatedly for the past couple of years where would you get anti climb paint?

Any hardware .

endacl

If you've no kids of your own, you could install a mosquito.

https://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/security-equipment/mosquito-mk4-anti-loitering-device

If the neighbour's make a deal out of it, tell them it'll be turned off when they stop acting like cnuts. And that it'll be turned back on if they start acting like cnuts again. And it'll be turned on every time they have kids over. And it'll sometimes be turned on in the middle of the the night.

Unless they behave.