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Eviction is 'too little, too late' say residents in 'living hell'

24/12/2002

RESIDENTS in a once-quiet Blackley street claim their lives have been "a living hell" for two-and-a-half years, since Manchester Council dumped problem families.

And even though one of the families has recently been evicted, and the other been given four weeks to find alternative accommodation, neighbours say it is "too little, too late".

One householder, who was too frightened to be named, said: "It's been a complete nightmare. The one family consisted of a man bringing up his children alone. But most people in the street thought they should have been in care.

"He would come out of the house to call the kids in.

"But the language he used and the way he treated them was atrocious. And if you happened to be walking by or in the street when he came out, he went for you, too.

"That was bad enough, but then they moved this other family in, and that's when the trouble really started."

The couple in question, Teresa Boyd, aged 36, and an unnamed partner, live in Erskine Road, Blackley. They share their home with Miss Boyd's eight children, aged between 16 and two years old. Miss Boyd's 16-year-old daughter has an eight-month-old son who also lives at the same address.

Manchester City Council finally obtained an order to evict the family, on 19 December, after giving evidence at Manchester County Court about their behaviour.

Housing officers told the court there had been a number of complaints about the family, including claims that the children had been verbally abusive to people, and were alleged to have engaged in a number of antisocial activities.

These included breaking windows, causing criminal damage, fighting with other children in the street, riding motorbikes in a reckless fashion, going about armed with knives and threatening violence with baseball bats.

Miss Boyd had been warned about bad conduct and had undertaken to behave last April. But she was herself cautioned by police officers in July, after she was found in the street with a 14in kitchen knife.

She also admitted in court that she had caused a nuisance by playing loud music in the early hours of the morning, last June, and had visitors who were abusive to a local tenant.

Complaints had also been made about bad behaviour last September, including reports of a car engine being revved and abusive language being used when neighbours complained. The court heard that the disturbance lasted from 4am until 5.15am.

Miss Boyd was then subjected to a court injunction in October, ordering her to behave.

A new injunction has been taken out against the family to protect witnesses between now and 13 January, and Miss Boyd has been ordered to pay around £900 in rent arrears.

A council spokesman said that the family have lived in the property for about two and a half years, but their bad behaviour had begun to peak during March and April, this year.

Council Basil Curley, the council's Executive Member for Housing, said: "This family has made life a misery for its neighbours and it is to the wider community that we owe our protection. That is why we made the decision to seek an eviction order.

"They had the chance to mend their ways but ignored it. Now they are seeing the consequences of their actions."

But residents in the street say they believe both problem families had been evicted from their previous homes for antisocial behaviour, and as a consequence they should never have been rehoused in a decent street like Erskine Road.

This has been denied by a council officer, who said Miss Boyd and her family had been housed by the authority after they arrived from Ireland.

Another resident said that some people were so desperate, they asked their MP, Graham Stringer, to intercede on their behalf.

She said: "Complaints had been made to the housing and the council, but it made no difference.

Mr Stringer said he could not comment on specific cases, but added: "If people do have a record of violent or antisocial behaviour, the council has no right to inflict them on others.

"I shall be writing to the Director of Housing to clarify the situation."

Susan Triggs, the council's Assistant Director of Housing said: "The Boyd family has recently started to co-operate with Social Services.

"They have been referred to a variety of agencies who have agreed to work with them to help them change their behaviour.

"If, in the future, the family can show that that it has worked positively and successfully, and it could live peacefully with its neighbours, Manchester would consider offering another tenancy."