Notes about Armando Martins Case Study No 3 and emotional blackmail 31/10/18

Background
The victim in case three is an elderly man whose next door neighbour accused him thirty years ago, of interfering with her TV set.  Relationships have never been good since this was resolved.  He is well known in the community for his hobby, being a licensed radio amateur.  His profile is quite high in the neighbourhood due to his garden antenna system.  He gets on well with his other neighbours – most of whom support him. 

Recently he has been the recipient of several types of unwanted behaviour as follows:  

Type 1.  False accusations of licence breaches delivered via secretive symbolic messages left on the doorstep of his home by an anonymous caller.  The symbol used is that used by CB radio operators to accuse each other of causing problems by “improper” use of his radio, breaking the terms of his licence.

Editors Note:  In common with other cases being compiled in support of Armando Martins, this feature implies the perpetrator has a need to torment the victim.  It implies he is being observed breaking rules and the potential to involve the authorities.  It is a veiled threat therefore.  The same symbol has appeared several times in the last few years. 

Type 2.  More recently he received a malicious call about his hobby purporting to come from the authorities and telling him he would be in breach of the rules of his licence, if he didn’t act.  This caused the victim to respond.

These incidents he thinks are pranks, however the frequency and numbers of incidents are building up and this is upsetting for him and his wife.  Someone is “getting off” on causing them anxiety.

Emotional Blackmail

Type 3. The neighbour next door’s demeanour has never been good, but recently she has made a number of caustic remarks about him and his hobby containing threats to disrupt him by reporting him to the council.  This attempt at coercive control was delivered over a number of incidents, one of which included complaints to his wife shouted through a communal wall, and accompanied by banging on the wall.  This occurred while she was indoors enjoying TV and he was enjoying a session of radio operating in the shed. 

When they eventually spoke, there was an allegation of TV Interference and the neighbour adopted a more threatening stance.

Despite his offers to resolve the situation, which mean accessing the neighbours TV to test it, she refuses and continues to threaten him saying she will have it stopped by the council.  The victim takes the correct action and obtains a leaflet from the BBC and gives it to the neighbour.  The neighbour insists she will do it her way. 

NB.  It is the BBC who have the technical resources to locate and prevent the interference.  The council don’t have any (but do have enforcement officers).

She isn’t interested – she wants to invoke sanctions that close him down. 

Anxiety levels are raised.  Her attitude and demeanour imply if the victim doesn’t comply with her rules, he will face the “bureaucrats” at the council or some other judgement.  As of today the victim awaits a call from the council and is in fear that they will act on her complaint rather than leave it to the proper authority.  (A few weeks later there is a distinctly toxic atmosphere).  While the victim said that he wasn’t losing any sleep it was clear now that he sees this as a threat to his livelihood.  In his mind he is continually questioning the situation – racking his brains, looking for reasons why he is under attack, what the next steps may be and how to deal with it – fearing the worst.  

In January 2019 the victim received a visit at night from two officers from Kent Police asking what was going on with his neighbour and for him to comment on her mental state. The purpose of the visit was vague although the victim links this with previous threats and false accusations.

NB.  The behaviour of this neighbour bears a strong resemblance to that shown in Nightmare Neighbours Next Door Series 5 Episode 8.  This has been screened multiple times on multiple channels of Freeview TV – ed.

Stuart Dixon

1 thought on “Notes about Armando Martins Case Study No 3 and emotional blackmail 31/10/18

  1. Pingback: The Armando Martins Campaign – Summary of Achievements and Further Action Required – 02/10/19 | Toxic Lives

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