‘My family is being targeted in my neighbourhood and nobody will help us’

John was on the motorway with his wife Sarah when his engine shut down.

The car lost power.

It was all he could do to steer the vehicle onto the hard shoulder into safety before the car came to a halt.

But more terrifying than his ordeal on the motorway was his discovery after it.

Someone had intentionally topped up his petrol tank with water, putting his family in danger.

“We didn’t feel like we are in a safe environment,” John said.

“You just ask yourself: What if our son had been in the car? What if we hadn’t managed to pull to the side of the motorway?”

And this wasn’t the first time Sarah and John’s cars claim they have been the target of vandalism and criminal damage.

In the last year and a half he estimates they’ve had to fork out £5,000 in repairs for the vehicles (the car which had water filled into the tank was deemed a ‘write off’ but the replacement was luckily covered by insurance.)

“They’ve been scratched up, the tyres have been slashed twice – with a blade,” he said (see image below).

John and his family, whose names have been changed for their protection, believe they are being targeted by a group in their neighbourhood – because of their skin colour.

John said: “Only cars belonging to black people are being targeted.

"It’s only us and one other guy in the area. It’s clear they don’t want us here.”

The family moved into a new home in Waterhead three years ago after moving out of an overcrowded home they shared with John’s parents.

“We’re just trying to start a family,” John said.

But the 33-year-old, who is studying to become a mental health nurse said the trouble started almost as soon as they moved in.

John said the harassment comes in different forms: doors and gates blocked in by bins, tires pierced, the tank filled with water and getting ‘parked in’ by other cars so they couldn’t get to work or university and causing serious parking disputes among the neighbours.

John says he also had to endure racial abuse directed at himself and his seven-year-old son.

“[My son] was playing outside and someone came out crying that he ‘looks like poo’.

"And as much as I want him to just stay at home [to protect him] – he’s a kid, he wants to engage with other kids,” John recounted.

“He gets it at school too and he gets it when he’s playing at home.

"We’ve tried speaking to his teachers.

"What kind of a basis is that building for this boy’s future mentality?”

The harassment has taken a toll on the family.

Sarah has had to take sick leave from her job as a nurse because of the stress and anxiety the situation is causing her.

And John said: “I’m drained. I just don’t have the energy.

"We’re just constantly looking out of the window in case something is happening.”

In a bid to escape the situation, the family applied to the council to be moved to a different house.

Their application was rejected.

A council spokesperson said that they have a ‘robust allocations policy’ with ‘urgent priority’ given to households where there’s ‘an exceptional need to move, including racial hate or harassment’.

But a rejection letter sent to the family claims the ‘anti-social behaviour’ John had reported ‘is not recognised as a housing need’, advising him instead to turn to the police and housing association.

A council spokesperson said: “Firstly, I want to make clear no one should be a victim of any kind of hate crime or abuse. Oldhamers are better than this.

"Anyone who’s a victim of a hate crime needs to report this to the police.

“Demand for social housing in Oldham massively outstrips supply, and the council often have to make difficult decisions to ensure those most in need are offered a home, but the reality is, at the moment, most people are disappointed because of a lack of social housing, a result of 14 years of under-investment in social housing.”

The spokesperson also suggested officers were currently ‘reviewing’ the case but the family claim they have had no correspondence with the council about housing since their rejection.

Despite reporting a number of the incidents to the police and his housing association, John feels like he’s getting no help.

The police recently advised the family to put up a camera to ‘gather evidence’ of the behaviour.

But on the first night it was up, someone cut the wires, John says.

And although several neighbours have street-facing cameras, no one was willing to share their footage with the family so they could take it to the police, according to John.

Asked if the police had been of help, John said: “Not at all. I think in three years of this they’ve only turned up once.”

GMP have been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, John claims landlords First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) have also left the family feeling like they’re fighting a losing battle – although the housing association says they’re doing everything within their powers ‘to address the family’s concerns’.

“When [First Choice Home officers] came, [Sarah] was crying and torn apart,” John said.

“And they showed no emotion – while telling us they’re not going to help us.”

In a letter sent by First Choice Homes and seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the family were told that because they have ‘no evidence of who the perpetrators of the vandalism are’, their complaints were ‘not upheld’.

They added that the issues around parking were ‘difficult to manage’ as they were ‘unable to enforce’ any parking regulations on the street as a housing association.

“I just don’t know what to do,” John said.

“We’re clearly living in a hostile environment.

"We’re showing them pictures, reporting things to police and everything – and they tell us there’s no evidence and there’s nothing they can do.”

A spokesperson for FCHO claimed the allegations were being taken ‘very seriously’ and that all their customers ‘should feel safe in their home’.

They said: “We have thoroughly investigated all the issues raised by our customer.

"We are also aware of concerns raised against the complainant by neighbours, which we have also investigated. Allegations from both sides are subject to ongoing investigations.

“Our teams have met the customer multiple times, and we are doing everything within our powers to address the family’s concerns.

“We are working with our partners on matters beyond our remit and where we have no enforcement powers.

"We are liaising with Greater Manchester Police on the allegations of racial abuse and vandalism.

"We are also working with Oldham Council on matters under their remit, such as parking and rehousing.

“We have advised the family on various housing options available to them.

"They did not have a rehousing application with the council until our team advised it was one of their options.

"Due to a significant shortage of available homes and to ensure fairness to all applicants, only cases meeting exceptional circumstances criteria can be considered for a ‘management move’ to another FCHO property.

“We remain committed to providing ongoing support and will continue to do everything we can to ensure the customer feels safe and supported in their home.”

But John doesn’t feel like the matter is being taken seriously enough.

“It’s just the fact that it doesn’t seem to be happening to anybody else in the area. If it had happened to other people it would have been dealt with,” he claimed.

“Since that day [on the motorway], we’ve felt like we can never be comfortable in our own home again.”

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