Birmingham County Court has handed down an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction to a council tenant and issued a 56 day possession order of his home.
Richard Leonard, a council tenant from Erdington in Birmingham, has been given a two-year ASBI which bars him from harassing or intimidating local residents and causing damage to their homes and vehicles.
The court ruling assigned Birmingham City Council the right to repossess Leonard’s home within 56 days. Once he has left the property, Leonard is forbidden from entering or remaining in his former residence.
The ruling, passed on 9 December, was in response to multiple complaints from local residents about Leonard’s behaviour.
The complaints claimed that Leonard had been both verbally and physically abusive towards residents and one resident was subjected to many accounts of homophobic abuse.
Complaints were also made against a second man, Brian Sibley, also a resident of Erdington. Sibley often visited Leonard’s home and was also given an 18 month ASBI which will bar him from assaulting, verbally abusing, harassing or intimidating residents at Leonard’s former residence.
In response to the verdict, a witness who gave evidence at court said to Midlands Zone Magazine: “My advice to anyone suffering from homophobic bullying is that you don’t have to put up with it and you shouldn’t. The support mechanisms are in place and the council has been absolutely fantastic in supporting me. I’m so glad I can now move forward with my life. To other victims I would say, don’t hesitate to get help.”
He added, “I would like to thank everyone who has supported me during this difficult time and helped to bring this spiteful bullying to an end”.
In response to the verdict, Councillor John Lines, Cabinet Member for Housing, said to Midlands Zone Magazine: “I’m delighted by the court’s ruling. I will not tolerate anti-social behaviour of any kind from my tenants and the behaviour of these two was completely unacceptable. Let this be a clear signal to others that I will not hesitate to take swift legal action should the need arise. The safety of my tenants and local community is my priority.”
At the beginning of December, a public awareness campaign was launched to encourage people to report hate crimes and to reinforce the message that ‘hate crime will not be tolerated in Birmingham’.pink paper
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