I've not been able to post this before, as the court case was only finished today. I first need to add some background. In early 2014 my teenage son was attacked with a pool cue by two youths. cue. Thankfully the physical injuries in the grand scheme of things weren't that bad. The psychological scars however still remain. He has become fairly reclusive and I'm sure he's been waiting for a conclusion to the trial (more of that later, or in subsequent posts). There has been a campaign of intimidation by an adult relative of the two youths aimed at getting the family to withdraw their evidence regarding the trial. This has gone on while I'm at work and it's clear when that is, as my van isn't outside the house. This adult is the local thug (or so he'd like to think, as I don't scare that easily). Anyway, let's cut to the chase. On the 29th December 2014 at 6.30pm my wife and kids were upstairs on Xboxes and the like. I was in the front room reclined in my chair and with the laptop in front of me. I'd been at work and was mentally switched off. if you are familiar with Cooper's Colour Code I was in code white. I was at hoe and not expecting anyone. There was a knock at the door and it's normally for the kids. It's always me who gets up, as the others seem to be deaf when upstairs. I go to the door and was greeted (for want of a better term) by a guy aged 30 -35, dark hair and dark stubble. He says, "can you step outside"? I said, "sorry, who are you"? and again he said, "step outside". Now pretend you haven't read the opening paragraphs and bearing in mind I am still in code white because I expected a kid at the door, what happened next, or what did I do?
I think I'd actually be dumb enough to step outside, don't know about you. :[ Hope everything turned out alright, don't leave us in suspense too long.
I'll let another couple if ideas come through them elaborate. You've said you'd step outside, so I'd be interested in what others would do.
Hmm. Depending on how he spoke, I'd either step outside because he asked me to and why wouldn't I, or he'd raise my hackles to the roof and then, depending on if I held onto my temper or not, I would either go back inside and call the police, or whether I try to remove his head from his shoulders. In either case, God help him if he tried to forcibly enter my home. Edit: Since I got a mini adrenal dump just from reading the post, I think I'm probably rolling around my front yard trying to kill him.
if it was me, and i knew that there was a legal issue already, i would have closed the door and stayed inside. but the way my house is, a person could not come up to the door anyway. i have a gate. i've been thinking for awhile that i want a video camera trained on my front gate. after reading your first post, i feel like i really need to get on that now.
1) Look him straight in the eye for quarter of a second and shut the door on him. 2) Phone the Police - not that they might do much. 3) Try to photograph him through the windows or otherwise. 4) Stay vigilant, where necessary and possible, arm myself.
I'm naturally suspicious of anyone that comes to my home unannounced and uninvited. So depending on my mood and what I was doing, I either wouldn't have gone to the door at all, or I'd have opened the main door and not the storm door, it stays locked all the time anyway. If that was their only demand, I'd have shut the door again and called the police to report a trespasser.
His demeanour was calm. Positive, but calm, so no need for adrenal dump at this stage, however.... Immediately after my second, "who are you", he said, "you should know who I am", them made reference to the court case. He was standing left side forward and he drew a kitchen knife with his right hand back toward his head (as if drawing a bow). I don't recall the exact words, but there was a threat to the family and it involved the knife. It's at this point that it would be very easy to fall into an ooda loop, which means observe, orientate, decide, act and you get stuck in the decision making loop. Thankfully that took about 0.25 of a second and I slammed the door.
Due to the intimidation we had a panic alarm fitted by the police. After shutting the door I immediately called for my wife to sound the alarm, while I called the police. The police arrived within a few minutes. They have been excellent throughout, as have witness protection.
Sorry to hear that your family is going through all of this. Seems like a worst case scenario for the type of situation it sounds like all this developed from. Glad to know that the police were speedy and helpful.
This guy was arrested immediately and has been in prison ever since. There was a court case in June this year, but the jury couldn't reach a verdict. The case was reheard on Wednesday and yesterday. Thankfully it was only me required to take the dock, which my wife and son having their statements read out in court. I only attended on Wednesday and was told yesterday that he was found not guilty. He was due in court again today for sentencing regarding the other intimidation and for that he received 18 months. That is on top of the 15 months he's already spent inside.
Throughout the police and witness protection have been excellent in every detail. Seems this guy is known to them and they wanted him probably more than me. They fitted camera front and back, as well as the alarms. An all round excellent service.
I would also like to extend a personal thanks to jwt, who I called once the police had left for the night. I called him and he helped ease the adrenal dump. His knowledge around this subject was a great help, as was his friendship. Some wise words that night. thank you.
Funny how most of us train in the arts. But never have to use it. You used your mind which is the biggest skill. So kudos to you on your patience and ability to deal with this kind of stress. Sorry your family had to go through all of this.
Handled exceptionally well Simon and exactly as it should have been It is good to hear that the system does have successes, although I would rather not have someone go through it to illustrate that I would be interested to hear what - if anything - you have changed about your responses, precautions and reactions as a result of the encounter/incidents?
That's horrific. I'm so glad you're ok Simon. How are things now? What was he found not guilty of? Mitch