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Telephone call received from Mr Cordell 22.11.16
I received a call from Simon Cordell of 109 Burncroft Avenue at approx. 1,20pm. The call was transferred by the customer
services team informing me that Mr Cordell wished to discuss hits housing options how to move. I took the call - he
sounded agitated and said that he had a few things that he wished to discuss with me. He said he was calling in response
to a letter that I had sent him requesting the removal of a CCTV camera that he had installed on the inner communal fire
door on the ground floor of the block. He informed me that he would not be removing the camera as he believed he was
legally allowed to have the camera as the communal area was his. I explained that he was in breach of his tenancy
conditions as permission had not been sought or granted for the installation and he could not install anything in the
communal area as this belonged to the Council. He maintained that his neighbour in another block had a camera and had
taken the Council to court about it and won the case. I responded that i could not comment about other cases but my
position remains as pier the letter I sent: That the camera was in breach of tenancy conditions, was invasive to the privacy
m
of other residents in the block as it points at the outer communal door and should be removed by Friday 25 November or
the Council will remove it and charge
him for the cost of doing so. He then said that the camera was fake so it didn’t need to be removed. I responded that it did
still need to be removed. His voice was raised throughout I exchange and I had to ask him to calm down and lower his voice
more than once. He also said that he wanted to move on to finding out about moving to another address. He proceeded to
give me a full history of his experiences with the police and previous housing management and alleged that 'Jackie*, who
had previously lived above him and ‘Stan’, his immediate neighbour on the ground floor, had victimised him over a long
period of time and that he had done nothing wrong. This history was very full and it was difficult to get a word in because
he was so worked up so I let him relay the information to me as it seemed like he wanted to get it off of his chest.
He was very derogatory about the police and previous housing staff who had signed a request for an Asbo application
against him. I told him that I could not comment about previous action taken. He then came on to more recent events and
stated that there had been an incident between him and another resident where she had shouted at him out of her window
because of him starting up a scrambler bike, in his garden. He maintained that he was courteous during the exchange but
the police came and arrested him because she told them that he had threatened to kill her and that he had been put in the
mental hospital, had won his case in court and was able to go home as of today. He said that he wanted me to give him
‘points’ so that he could move. I explained that his best means of moving would be through a mutual exchange but he was
adamant that he did not want to. do this and wanted to be moved in the same way that he moved into this property 11yrs
ago by being given points. I explained that a transfer was unlikely based on what he had told me so far but that I could look
into the position for him. He said a lot about his perceived victimisation by his neighbours and expressed that he felt that I
should t have a duty to protect him. I explained that I had a responsibility to all residents living at Bumcroft Avenue and
took the opportunity to mention that I had received some reports about anti-social behaviour by him that) would need to
discuss with him but suggested that we leave that for today. He then put his mother on the line (she had been trying to
interject throughout the conversation) who said she wanted to know why I had not responded to her messag.es to call her. I
apologised for this and explained that I have been very busy but that I needed to know whether we had written permission
from Mr Cordell for us to speak to her - she said that there was a written note recorded on our files in 2015. Mr Cordell
asked her what I was asking her and when she replied that I was querying permission I clearly heard Mr Cordell say angrily
and aggressively “I’m goanna do her over" and then “I’m goanna take her job just for fun". I informed Mrs Cordell that I had
overheard these remarks and that I was ending the call. She said that her son had now left the room and she was talking to
me. I repeated that I would be ending the call and that she should put what she wanted to say in writing to me.
Sarah Fletcher Neighbourhood Officer
39
Enfield Council Case History Against Me