Background
Local residents have reported that there is a man who is often seen on the footpaths around Diglis Nature Reserve as well as on the Diglis Footbridge and riverside paths that is exhibiting significant threatening behaviours. Some days he is fine, other days he is threatening. He is aggressive to both men and women but mainly to sole women. He is chopping trees down with a machete style axe and when walking around the site the sight of the blade is adding to many people’s anxiety. Many people, especially women, have said they no longer use the footpaths.
Cllr Louis Stephen and Cllr Tom Piotrowski met with Worcester City Council officers in the housing welfare team to learn what is being done and as a result a community engagement meeting was held with residents living near the reserve so they could hear first hand from council officers and the police what is being done and how the community can support officers efforts to resolve the issue.
Most people are genuinely concerned about this man’s mental health and welfare and many have said they don’t want to report him to authorities because they ‘don’t want him locked up, they want him to get help’.
Some people have said that they don’t want to report his behaviour to the police because they fear that he knows where they live and they fear reprisals.
Where there are concerns for someone’s mental health it is normal practice for an assessment to be made. Of course it is not appropriate to put the results of any such assessment in the public domain.
The Way Forward
We can’t be sure at his stage if the correct pathway is through mental health services or through the criminal courts. Either way the proposed pathway to resolve this problem is to gather sufficient evidence to be put to court that would compel the man to move on, engage with mental health services or potentially be imprisoned.
Quite rightly judges set a very high evidence bar before taking away a person’s liberty. Evidence could come in various forms and different forms are likely to hold varying weight. Some of the best evidence is a first hand and recent written witness statement. Not everyone is prepared to make a sworn statement that would be used in court. In these cases it is still worth reporting antisocial behaviour to the authorities because even if by itself not being sufficient for prosecution it does establish a pattern of behaviour that collectively would hold weight.
Simply put, without the support from the community to report each and every incident this long standing problem will not get resolved. So we are asking for your help…..
How To Report Incidents
Please report incidents twice, sorry to ask this, to the police and to the city council.
Report To The Police
This can be done in two ways:
1) By phone on 101 for non urgent cases or 999 for urgent cases. There is a new call back service when the lines are very busy.
2a) On the West Mercia Police website For general anti social behaviour the following can be used:- Report antisocial behaviour | West Mercia Police
2b) Or, for criminal offences (behaviour that causes harassment, alarm and distress and threatening behaviour), the following can be used:- Report a crime | West Mercia Police
Or if you wish to discuss the ongoing issues with the Safer Neighbourhood team or seek advice, cathedral.snt@westmercia.police.uk. (please note that to be actioned, crimes do need to be reported via the websites above or 101 / 999)
Please note, that for the police to be able to take action it does need to be put through force control. 101, 999 and the webpages above would go through force control.
Report To Council Community Safety Team
This can be done either by phone or email
1) Phone main council switchboard and ask for 01905 722233
2) Email Community Safety on community.safety@worcester.gov.uk
Thank you for your help. Together let’s finally crack this problem.
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