25 November (Part 2) - Bexley council. Driving residents mad
Buried
away on this website is the story of an eccentric and vulnerable old man who in
2009 was so frustrated by Bexley council that he
burned his own house down. It’s still on the
News Shopper’s website too. This poor old man was accused by Bexley councillor
Melvin Seymour of intimidation and the court gave him an ASBO. But that wasn’t the end of the matter.
The old man had asked Bexley council for help to protect his home against
vandals and yobs 81 times. He got no help but Bexley council wasn’t slow to
prosecute him for benefit fraud instead. Barrister David Martin-Sperry
took up the retired builder’s case and thanks to him a jury
acquitted the old man in just 20 minutes. The Daily Telegraph’s web pages still
carries a report on the matter.
Burning property out of desperation at Bexley council’s inaction is more common
than you might think. A year earlier someone set light to the contents of a
filing cabinet at Erith Town Hall. I thought it might be interesting to find out
why and I went to see the man who did it last week. Sure enough he proved not to
be a pyromaniac but a man driven to the end of his tether by the incompetence and intransigence of Bexley council.
I doubt I will be able to report his story in any great detail because it also
involves a firm of solicitors - not local - and you know how litigious they can
be if you tread on their toes. However there are a few documents that reflect
badly on Bexley council. I expect they will get an airing before long.