Essex Police’s Slow Investigation Into Alleged Theft Of Belongings By Social Workers

Essex Police’s Slow Investigation Into Alleged Theft Of Belongings By Social Workers

By Ashley Young-

Essex police have re-opened an investigation into the alleged theft of a black man’s belongings by social services, and an estate agents, after the force rejected an earlier complaint into the force.

The force confirmed last week that ” in light of new information’, they had re-opened an investigation into allegations of theft by   two social workers,   supported by estate agents, appointmoore , based in Leigh On Sea, and  two social workers from Southend’s social services. Essex police contacted the man twice last week, and  had promised to get in touch with the man early this week, but have reportedly not been in touch. The investigation has now been re-opened for a week.

Estate Agents, Appointmoor and two female members of social services-whose names have been withheld- have both been  accused of either stealing the black man’s belongings, or being complicit in the theft of his belongings, which includes  a number of designer shirts and trousers, and personal documents, as part of a vendetta against the man, after he confronted their incompetent operation in renting out a two bedroom property with a defective shower and washing machine which were not working at all for months.

Social workers had initially claimed that none of the man’s belongings were missing- but in May handed a portion of his belongings, 8 months after he first asked for them.  The man has accused them of holding unto to other belongings.

The complainant has received some of his belongings, but has complained to the police and the social workers that other  belongings are still missing. He has also accused the police of discrimination against him, alleging they supported the estate agents, despite evidence that one of the estate agent’s manager had an axe to grind with the man. Once finally agreed by a body of professionals, the names of the officers will also be published, directly accusing them of discrimination.

Independent professionals which includes lawyers, lecturers and highly ranked police officers from other boroughs have not been unified in their verdicts on this case, making it not so clear to what extent discrimination can be clearly established. More expertise is being sought to nail this assessment efficiently.

Mr Hustwitt himself and some of his family members aware of the complains may be implied as far as discriminatory action is concerned, for taking no action to address the problem. The issue is to be amongst others to be assessed and debated, eventually to be published on a later date.

The bulk of the blame has been directed at Lauren Finch- an arrogant so-called manager, who has not responded to three of our requests for comment, nor the complainant’s email asking for his belongings. Finch had originally not been managing this property, but took over from Zak Weavers, who struck the original deal of collecting cash for the property. She was repeatedly told of a defective washing machine and shower, and written to by Mr Hustwitt to fix both items, but both remained unfixed months after the original request.

Under the management of Ms Finch, she arranged for police to visit Mr.Hustwitt at the property about four times. Mr.Hustwitt complained that he was overstepping her marks, and called her derogatory in his remarks about her as a result.

Ms Finch  put Mr.Hustwitt in an accommodation building shared by other vulnerable people, even though her office had been told about the full extent of the alcoholics problems.

 

Hazel Tegerdine, Property Manager

Arrogant And Incompetent: Lauren Finch                                                                            Image:appointmoore.co.uk

The tricky side to the dispute is that at the beginning of the complaint, theft was impossible to prove because of the legal requirement of permanent deprivation of property required to prove theft. Police officers differ in opinion when asked about theft. Some feel that if there is reasonable cause to suspect that one a party intends to deprive another of their belongings, police can act to prevent it and return the goods to its rightful owner.

Under the circumstances of rented accommodation, the tenant normally has the most rights, but he cannot steal your property and claim it simply because it is in his property, neither can anyone on his behalf prevent the owner from having his property. In this case Estate Agents, appoitnmoore, after being exposed for letting out a property with a defective shower and washing machine for months, appeared to have a vendetta against the black man who struck the deal for Mr Hustwitt to rent a property from them.

Alcoholic- Gary Hustwitt,  himself could have been more helpful in helping the man obtain a property by getting his family to pay for the property, after they had deserted him due to a very bad character which had seen the 60 year old left out of his father’s will. A main issue he raises is that his black friend did not support him to purchase alcohol, even after he was throwing up on it on almost a daily basis. It ignores the fact he helped recue him from the company of crack heads, one of whom the then lonely Mr Hustwitt had allowed spend a substantial amount of his income paying for her drug habit.

Teased

Mr. Hustwitt once told this publication that his family had teased him when he came out of rehab by offering him cans of alcohol with water in it. He claimed to be suffering from intense depression, and once said he could die if he did not drink alcohol as frequently as he wished.

His family said he had been a nuisance to his parents before they both died. Mr.Hustwitt often asked his father for money to support his drinking habit, whilst his father was in hospital.

The black man who has insisted on anonymity, claims to have suffered mental health issues as a result of discriminatory action by Estate Agents, appointmoore and Southend Social services, who are accused of working with Essex Police in subjecting the man to discrimination by operating under a vendetta to deny the man his belongings.

Some police officers from Southend Police  force have been accused of incompetence and discrimination against the man, and a number of high ranking officers, including sergents, have been accused of discrimination and dishonesty.  They will be named next week after the complaint has undergone one more stage of scrutiny by one more independent body assessing the details.

The man  was routinely mistreated by cops, who appeared to cover up for one another and contradict their own initial advice on the case. After the crime bureau initially registered the man’s complaints as a theft, the officer who lodged it as a theft, was then overruled by her superior, PC Dunn ,who deemed it a civil matter, as more of her colleagues either recklessly or deliberately allowed his belongings to be deprived from him, even though they knew the man had spent time at the residence of the alcoholic.

Theft Claim

The claim of theft against an estate agents and social services is extraordinary, but this particular estate agents appears to have shown a degree of corruption, embarrassing to their otherwise good name.

First, the estate agents took an advance annual fee of 15,000 from Mr Hustwitt’s family, bypassing the effects of credit checks which they conducted for the tenant, Mr.Hustwitt, but which failed on every count after his  former landlord ticked ‘no’ to every question asked. The estate agent knew Mr.Hustwitt had failed credit check and originally denied him accommodation, until a deal was struck by the man. When things went wrong, the estate agents were unco-operative in helping the man obtain his belongings.

An officer in the crime bureau, PC Smith, originally ruled the complaint  a theft,  but was overruled by PC Dunn, within 24 hours of PC Smith’s original ruling. PC Smith had made her decision on the grounds that the black male had requested his belongings from the Estate Agents, and also contacted the property owner, Mr.Hustwitt, by phone, requesting his belongings.

Mr. Hustwitt had been in hospital , paralyzed from alcohol poisoning after constant drinking, ignoring  written conditions of arrangements  for him to curb his drinking, to obtain the property for him.

Essex police, under PC Dunn’s advice,  ruled the complaint to be a civil matter, citing 1(1)  of Theft Act 1968 which provides that a person is guilty of theft if they dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it. Ss 2-6 of the Theft Act 1968 provide definitions of each of the elements of theft.

PC Dunn, who intervened and advised the estate agents to allow the man identify the property he claims were his, so it could be photographed and put aside for confirmation. However,  according to details of the complaint sent to professional standards, PC Dunn weakened her own advice by telling the discriminatory staff at the estate agents that her advice was not mandatory because she considered it a civil matter. As a result, the estate agents took no action to help recover the property.

Alcoholic Gary Hustwitt drank multiple cans of alcohol on a daily basis            Image: supplied

Intention

Essex police in 2020 argued that there was no way of establishing that the estate agent or social services had any intention of permanently depriving the man of his belongings. The Estate Agents had initially given the man a small fraction of his belongings on August 8, 2020, then in June, last month, gave the man more of his belongings, leaving out other belongings of his, including a passport.

One police officer, PC Butcher, denied the man an opportunity to identify his belongings when the estate agents arranged for a removal van to clear all the belongings from the property, and had assured the man that if he emailed the social worker, they would arrange for any outstanding belongings to be returned to him. On record, PC Butcher told the man to report the matter as a theft, in the event he was not given his belongings.

The officer at the scene, PC Butcher had assured the man that any property missing should be communicated to the estate agents and social services, and they would seek to identify it to him.  The man asked what would happen if his belongings were not returned to him in those circumstances, and PC Butcher told the man he could report it as a th.

PC Butcher guard property      Image: supplied

However, the estate agents ignored the man’s email communication requesting his belongings, and when PC Butcher was contacted by the man, asking for his belongings, he initially did not respond to  the man’s email. When the  officer eventually responded to the man’s email, he told the man to contact social services for his belongings, completely disregarding his original assurance that the man could report it as a theft if he did not receive it.

A survey of police officers and police commissioners in two boroughs of the country-Norfolk and East London- have yielded a divided opinion of whether the allegations can legally have been ruled as theft at the original time of the report.

Further expertise from high ranking police officers in other boroughs began today, with regards to allegations of  discrimination and lack of integrity, and a few solicitors consulted about the allegations have so far been split as to their verdict of the original complaint. If after more extensive professional assessment, the officers are found to have acted dishonestly, an official complaint is planned to be escalated to Police boss Cressica Dick

His former landlord made it abundantly clear that he would not recommend Mr.Hustwitt as a tenant, he had not paid his rent on time, and was not a good tenant. But due to the negotiation of his black friend, the estate agents made exceptions for the alcoholic, but placed him in a property with defective bathroom.

Ms Finch also lied to residents of the property that she was not aware of Mr.Hustwitt’s alcoholic problem. It wasn’t long before neighbours were pressuring the estate agents to evict Mr.Hustwitt because of the regular smells from the property after he had drank too much and excreted himself on his bed.

The estate agents under the influence of Ms Finch would later victimize the black man, with the police and social services unwittingly aiding and abetting her. When Mr.Hustwitt eventually got so drunk that he had to be rushed to hospital, the window of opportunity to punish him by denying him his belongings at the property, after he contacted them repeatedly for it. Mr.Hustwitt stayed in hospital until his tenancy expired, and appointmoor dishonourably got police to guard the property to prevent the man from obtaining his belongings, even though they knew it was his.

He would never receive half of his belongings. The man who claims to have suffered mental health issues due to the treatment, was routinely mistreated by cops who appeared to cover up for one another and contradict their own initial advice on the case. After the crime bureau initially registered the man’s complaints as a theft, the officer who lodged it as a theft, was then overruled by her superior, PC Dunn who deemed it a civil matter, as more of her colleagues either recklessly or deliberately allowed his belongings to be deprived from him, even though they knew the man had spent time looing after the alcoholic.

The estate agents ignored the man’s email communication requesting his belongings, and when PC Butcher was contacted by the man, asking for his belongings, he initially did not respond to  the man’s email. When the  officer eventually responded to the man’s email, he told the man to contact social services for his belongings, completely disregarding his original assurance that the man could report it as a theft if he did not receive it.

Meanwhile  high ranking officers in Norfolk and East London who have been given detailed accounts of the incidence have categorically said it should have been recorded as a theft.

Hostilities

Hostilities between the man and arrogant estate agent manager, Lauren Lynch, began after the arrogant Estate agent manager was criticized for accommodating the alcoholic in a property that had a defective washing machine, and bathroom with a shower that wasn’t working, even though appointmoor had received an advance sum of 15,000 pounds from the man’s family negotiated by the black man who had known Mr.Hustwitt for three years.

Ms lynch also entertained rumours the man may be selling drugs, even though her estate agents knew better. The allegation of drug dealing came from worried neighbours who smelt the odour of faeces in Mr.Hustwitt’s property, caused from his excessive drinking which got so bad to the extent of him excreting himself after constant drinking.She did not respond to questions from The Eye Of Media.Com to explain her actions.

Instead of contacting the man to inquire the facts, the unprofessional estate agents manager advised neighbours to call police, and is also believed to have arranged for regular visits from police to check on Mr.Hustwitt. The same police force who deemed it a civil matter when the black man reported theft of his belongings, were voluntarily attending the man’s property

Mr Hustwitt expressed frustration with the regularity of police attendance to his property, and expressed dislike for the estate agent manager.

The anonymous black man also raised issue with the fact one of the showers in the two bedroom property was not working. The washing machine at the property was also not working  for about 6 months, despite calls from the tenant for it to be attended to.

Exclusion From Will

Mr.Hustwitt’s father had been excluded from his father’s will, who  left the bulk of his will(to the tune of £800,000) to his daughter – Gayle Hustwitt. the elder sister of  Mr Hustwitt,. Mr. Hustwitt could only be supported financially whenever his sister deemed his neds necessary.

Prior to the arrangements, Mr.Hustwitt’s family had helped him with the odd £10 and £20 here and there, but nothing significant. This was because Gary had been persistently disrespectful to his father when he was alive, and also reportedly was very insulting to his mother.  His chronic alcoholic problem was so bad that for a long time, he would wait for the shops to open as early as 8a.m to buy a drink.

His sister, Gail Martins, got so worried that he put a picture of him in all the local shops in Hockley, Essex, where he lived with his parents, and appealed with them not to supply him with any alcohol.

Determined to get his daily alcohol, Mr Hustwitt would get on the bus and travel out of his area in Hockley to Purchase alcohol.

 

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