Light_Soda
Debutant
I didn't know where to ask this, but I urgently need advice.
While working on his car with his friend, my brother (18) was assaulted by an alcoholic neighbour (22) yesterday, and although my brother was able to get away from the fight with minor cuts and bruises, I was later approached by the same neighbour (I'm 20) due to the fact that I stepped in to end the fight between him and my brother. I was unable to get me and my mum to safety, so instead of having my back to him approaching, I chose to defend myself. The whole time, I was trying to protect my mother and me, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know whether to give up all sense of reasoning and just risk my life, or to keep walking backwards and keeping my mum close.
This neighbour has nothing to lose, his whole life is in shambles and doesn't really care whether he lives or dies. He is known to the police by name and constantly charged, but the police have said they couldn't do anything because his mum keeps letting him come back at home. When intoxicated, he's aggressively violent to the point that he thinks he's in the UFC and wants to kill everyone. It's distressing and so hard to live like this. He has made threats of killing us. He has a history of schizophrenia from drug abuse and mental issues.
The fight began due to the fact that my brother did not want to talk to the drunk neighbour, he repeatedly told him not to speak to him and leave him and his friend alone (he was assaulted by the same neighbour before). But of course, when someone is so aggressive and an alcoholic, they don't take no for an answer - and as such, he became physically violent. My brother, I and my mum just want this person to leave us alone entirely.
The police instructed us to obtain a restraining order at the magistrate, but upon reading about the restraining order process online (I'm not sure if it was outdated or not), I have read that you need a substantual amount of evidence in court (which is concerning because we don't have physical evidence, only people's accounts and a past history) - and I have also read that the actual order isn't in process unless the 'defendant' is given the order - and that we're advised that we don't go home for about 2 days or so? We can't do that. I would appreciate it greatly if there was some way that we could do something legally to stop this neighbour from harrassing us - and I'm afraid that he might do something crazy like kill us. We care about ourselves and our lives and we value our health, but he has no morals nor does he seem to care about his life, none of us want to risk injury or loss of a proper life over this person.
When I read about the intervention order process, it seems to me that it leaves a lot of possible ways for us to still be harassed by this person. It seems to be a civil thing, rather than a criminal thing that the police will assist you with. It's mentally dawning because I'm not a legal person, I have no idea what to do or where to begin and we are not rich. I'm afraid that if he knows about the restraining order, he might be violent before it comes into affect. I am also afraid that if the restraining order is not processed for whatever reason (whether or not he chose to defend himself in court), the failure of such an intervention order would leave the possibility open for another assault. I simply cannot allow such a risk anymore, I need something concrete done now. The stress that my mum is going through because of this has made me so stressed as well.
So I literally beg, any of you with legal knowledge, or any past experience with such people, to give me some advice or guidance on what to do next. If a restraining order is the right and only cause of action, please explain the process to me - is it realistic? Effective for how long? Is the person simply charged if they breach such an order or can they be arrested? And for how long? I need to do something to prevent the same incident from happening again. I don't see the practicality in calling the police if they're unable to do anything. I'm too afraid to even leave my mum or my brother in the house - I can't live like this. I could barely even fall sleep last night due to the fear that the neighbour may have decided to do something whilst we're asleep.
Thankfully, he hasn't, but I need to do something now before it is too late. Any advice will be appreciated so much. Thank you so much in advance..
While working on his car with his friend, my brother (18) was assaulted by an alcoholic neighbour (22) yesterday, and although my brother was able to get away from the fight with minor cuts and bruises, I was later approached by the same neighbour (I'm 20) due to the fact that I stepped in to end the fight between him and my brother. I was unable to get me and my mum to safety, so instead of having my back to him approaching, I chose to defend myself. The whole time, I was trying to protect my mother and me, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know whether to give up all sense of reasoning and just risk my life, or to keep walking backwards and keeping my mum close.
This neighbour has nothing to lose, his whole life is in shambles and doesn't really care whether he lives or dies. He is known to the police by name and constantly charged, but the police have said they couldn't do anything because his mum keeps letting him come back at home. When intoxicated, he's aggressively violent to the point that he thinks he's in the UFC and wants to kill everyone. It's distressing and so hard to live like this. He has made threats of killing us. He has a history of schizophrenia from drug abuse and mental issues.
The fight began due to the fact that my brother did not want to talk to the drunk neighbour, he repeatedly told him not to speak to him and leave him and his friend alone (he was assaulted by the same neighbour before). But of course, when someone is so aggressive and an alcoholic, they don't take no for an answer - and as such, he became physically violent. My brother, I and my mum just want this person to leave us alone entirely.
The police instructed us to obtain a restraining order at the magistrate, but upon reading about the restraining order process online (I'm not sure if it was outdated or not), I have read that you need a substantual amount of evidence in court (which is concerning because we don't have physical evidence, only people's accounts and a past history) - and I have also read that the actual order isn't in process unless the 'defendant' is given the order - and that we're advised that we don't go home for about 2 days or so? We can't do that. I would appreciate it greatly if there was some way that we could do something legally to stop this neighbour from harrassing us - and I'm afraid that he might do something crazy like kill us. We care about ourselves and our lives and we value our health, but he has no morals nor does he seem to care about his life, none of us want to risk injury or loss of a proper life over this person.
When I read about the intervention order process, it seems to me that it leaves a lot of possible ways for us to still be harassed by this person. It seems to be a civil thing, rather than a criminal thing that the police will assist you with. It's mentally dawning because I'm not a legal person, I have no idea what to do or where to begin and we are not rich. I'm afraid that if he knows about the restraining order, he might be violent before it comes into affect. I am also afraid that if the restraining order is not processed for whatever reason (whether or not he chose to defend himself in court), the failure of such an intervention order would leave the possibility open for another assault. I simply cannot allow such a risk anymore, I need something concrete done now. The stress that my mum is going through because of this has made me so stressed as well.
So I literally beg, any of you with legal knowledge, or any past experience with such people, to give me some advice or guidance on what to do next. If a restraining order is the right and only cause of action, please explain the process to me - is it realistic? Effective for how long? Is the person simply charged if they breach such an order or can they be arrested? And for how long? I need to do something to prevent the same incident from happening again. I don't see the practicality in calling the police if they're unable to do anything. I'm too afraid to even leave my mum or my brother in the house - I can't live like this. I could barely even fall sleep last night due to the fear that the neighbour may have decided to do something whilst we're asleep.
Thankfully, he hasn't, but I need to do something now before it is too late. Any advice will be appreciated so much. Thank you so much in advance..