Man scared to leave house because of verbal abuse

A man says anti-social behaviour on his street has become "intolerable", leaving him in fear of leaving his home.

Frank, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, says he has lost all trust in West Midlands Police, after the force took three days to respond to his report of a hate crime in Cradley Heath in May.

In CCTV footage seen by the BBC, several youngsters can be heard accusing him of being a paedophile and making threats to burn down his house.

West Midlands Police (WMP) say they acted appropriately with the consent of all parties.

“It went on for two hours that night, it was relentless”, Frank, who is visually-impaired, said.

“That type of language leaves me upset and angry. There are people who have been attacked or even killed and I’m visually impaired, I might not notice anyone until they are right on top of me."

Frank said he was visited in June by an inspector and agreed to a community resolution order, which would place one of the children on the pathway of the youth offending service.

National police guidelines state this measure is typically for a first offence and where the perpetrator shows remorse.

However, Frank says he felt "under extreme pressure" to sign a document he could not read in full because of his sight impairment.

"I’ve always been brought up to trust the police and I don’t know now," he said.

"I later found out if I signed it there is no victim's right to a review of the investigation."

A WMP spokesperson said the force was satisfied a community resolution was the correct course of action and the child was referred to the Youth Offending Service.

They said no further incidents had been reported to them since the offence in May.

Sandwell Council has also been in contact with the families of those involved in Frank’s incident, the BBC has been told.

Councillor Suzanne Hartwell, deputy leader and cabinet member for neighbourhoods and community, said: "We will work proactively with residents, the police and community groups to raise awareness of anti-social behaviour, and where individuals are identified we will take direct action to address their behaviour."

She said the council and police had worked with the young people involved and "signposted them to positive activities they can take part in locally."

Frank said the children involved in verbally abusing him have since returned to his street, but admitted it had quietened down.

However, the impact of the verbal abuse is still with him, leaving him wary about going out in the evening.

“All the police have done is effectively encourage the child to carry on with their behaviour and it’s me that’s got to be mindful and left feeling incredibly vulnerable," he said.

"Youths are becoming more emboldened and confident, because they have the feeling of invincibility.

Police forces recorded one million anti-social behaviour incidents in 2023, according to the latest Crime Survey of England and Wales, with 35% of participants experiencing or witnessing anti-social behaviour.

The government says it will bring in a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, including the recruitment of thousands of new police officers, police and community support officers.

They also plan to introduce Respect Orders – new powers to ban persistent adult offenders from town centres.

Frank said Sir Kier Starmer should not turn a blind eye to the problem of anti-social behaviour.

"Unless they start coming down hard on the root causes of this, they won’t change it," he said.

"Those youths are growing up. It’s going to escalate into violence."

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