By Ashley Young And Victoria Mckeown-
A manager of an Estate Agent was complicit in denying a black man his belongings for 9 months, The Eye Of Media can reveal.
Lauren Lynch, a manager from Appointmoore in Leigh On Sea, Essex, maltreated a black man who helped an alcoholic obtain a property with her estate agent by failing to co-operate to give him his belongings even when it was ascertainable that the belongings belonged to the man.
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Last Friday, the man was notified that his belongings will be available to him from Monday, May 1oth, after being deprived from him for 8 months.
The story in this case at first appeared to be one of race cards being played, but we watched for nearly a year as the shameless estate agent appeared to deliberately inconvenience the man by withholding his property. It has been described as indirect racism because of all the circumstances surrounding it. of
His colour was already an underlying factor because she knew he had already been suspected on doing drugs at the property, even though it was his white pal, Mr Hustwitt who was stinking up the environment with faeces caused by excessive drinking . The only basis for the suspicion of drugs was his colour, and Lauren Lynch supported that racial stereotype through her actions.
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Appointmoore had by passed the protocol of a tenant after obtaining a reference from their former landlord, and receiving an annual rent fee of £15,000 from Mr Hustwitt’s family.
That lump sum was negotiated by the black man with a male staff of the company.
Somehow, Ms Lynch got involved in the property, and rather than appreciate the man’s good gesture, she pursued a series of ill-natured conduct against him. It amounted to him not receiving his property for 7 months.
The man who has insisted on anonymity, suffered mental health issues following discriminatory action from Ms Lynch. and her colleagues in 2020.
Process
The Eye Of Media.Com was immediately informed of the situation in August 2020, but urged the man to follow the processes of the Estate Agent, and arrange to collect his belongings. We were at the time confident he would get his belongings back.
Our investigation found that under the leadership of Ms Lynch, Appointmoore, ignored requests from the man to obtain his belongings at the property of Mr.Hustwitt, despite them being aware he had stayed at the property, looking after the alcoholic, and tried to assist him in beating his alcoholic addiction.
When neighbours at the property in Chalkwell On Sea smelt a foul odour, they assumed it to be drugs just because a black man had been frequenting the property.
Property Arrangement
Appointmoore knew the black man had organised the arrangement of the property with them for the proprty, and ought to have inquired about the facts of the matter. What took place was radically different.
Lauren lynch was prejudicial when she encouraged the stereotypical neighbours to call the police, instead of contacting the black man directly to inquire about the suspicions of drug taking she heard about.
Ms Lynch also called police on at least four separate occasions to attend the property to check on the well being of the alcoholic when she was aware the black man was the black man was often there catering for him.
Accused of prejudice: Appointmoor Estate Agent, Lauren Lynch
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.
Sideline From Will
The black male man had negotiated with the family of Mr.Hustwitt, to pay for a property for him, after the latter was sidelined in a will from his late father- a former successful stockbroker in London.
Mr.Hustwitt’s father had left the bulk of his will(to the tune of £800,000) to his daughter – Gayle Hustwitt. the elder sister of Mr Hustwitt, but said 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 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.
A major issue arose after the man reminded the estate agents in the summer of 2020, of the fact he had signed a contract with the alcoholic for him to control the regularity of his alcoholic intake, by limiting his customary 8 pints of alcohol to 2 pints a day, with the goal of eventually giving up drinking.
Appointmoor pointed out that its obligations were to the property and the payment of rent, overlooking their awareness that the alcoholic had signed an agreement to avoid excessive drinking or nuisance behaviour which could aggravate the neighbours .
Eventually, Mr Hustwitt got so drunk after ordering alcohol online, that he urinated on himself whilst sleeping on the couch in his sitting room, refusing to sleep in his bedroom.
Gary Hustwitt was hospitalized after excessive drinking
The black man eventually contacted an alcoholic store by the name of deliveroo, to advise them of the problem and warn them not to supply Mr.Hustwitt with any more alcohol. They agreed.
Hospitalised
Mr Hustwitt was eventually hospitalised after drinking so much that he could not walk. He stayed in hospital for three months until his tenancy agreement ran out, and all his belongings were moved out of the property. The property of the black man was also removed.
The man contacted police to complain about his missing belongings, but was ignored by the estate agents. The crime bureau initially reported it as a theft, but were overruled by PC Dunn, who promised to urge the estate agents to take a photograph of his property and ask Mr Hustwitt to confirm this.
But PC Dunn told the estate agent it was a civil matter, undermining her own advice to the estate agents.
This, despite the fact they had attended the property on numerous occasions at the request of the estate agents to check on him.The estate agent ignored the advice, refusing to address the issue.
Missing Belongings
Upon arrival, the man was given a bag containing some of his belongings.
The man later raised the fact that other belongings were missing, but a social worker who had been appointed to attended the property, declined to give him the rest of his belongings.
The man contacted police on August 7th, 2020, to complain that efforts he had made to obtain his belongings had been ignored, and he was advised to call police to accompany him to the property to collect his property.
However, on the day of the house clearance, Appointmoore had arranged for a police officer (PC Butcher)to be on the scene, who refused the man to have his property .
PC Putcher told the man to contact the estate agent in any event he did not obtain his property, promising him that he would receive his property.
Appoitnmoor’s director , Bradley Daniels, was also contacted by mail a number of times about this issue, but he sha stayed silent throughout the whole situation, making him complicit in the prejudicial conduct against the black man.
Managing Director: Bradley Daniells.
Silent
After months of not receiving his property, the estate agents stayed silent about it, despite email requests for his property.
When PC Butcher was reminded by mail of his promise, he advised the man to contact social services for his property, instead of intervening to arrange for the return of the property.
The Director of the Appointmoor was also notified of the missing belongings, but remained silence throughout the ordeal.
Where a man is treated in a way that is s wrong that it is unlikely he was have received the same treatment had he been white, and he believes the treatment was because of his colour, then it can be taken as being influenced by his colour.
Appointmoor were contacted twice by this organisation, and have shown no good reason to have denied the man his belongings, even after police urged them to arrange for his belongings to be identified.
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