By Gabriel Princewill-
Removal vans were seen clearing the remnants of a former notorious landlord’s existence from his property in Southend, Essex over a two day period.
Behind the seemingly routine task of this clearance lies a tale of mounting debts, legal battles, and a life marked by both compassion and contention.
Robert Crow died of cancer in February 2024 at the age of 74, after losing a series of relentless long court battles with Southend Borough Council over his HMO property in the Devereux Road Southend, sustaining over £80,000 in fines which he never paid.
Neighbours of the former notorious landlord expressed relief as they watched the belongings of Robert Earnest Crow moved away from the property where he resided for nearly two decades, and where he housed the homeless.
Mr Crow purchased the four bedroom HMO property in 2007 from money earned after a few years stint in Saudi Arabia where he worked as an engineer for high officials of the country.
Crow’s name had become etched into the fabric of Southend’s community, not as a beacon of prosperity, but rather as a figure embroiled in a relentless struggle with Southend Borough Council and his neighbours.
His properties, once shelters for those in need, had become battlegrounds for disputes over maintenance, electricity, and living conditions, regularly making the local news.
Truck moves belongings of Mr Crow Image;supplied
Mounting debts resulting from the legal fines had cast a shadow over what was supposed to be Mr Crow’s once bustling property empire, designed to house the homeless, and provide them with the safety and stability they so badly needed and were at the time pressed to find elsewhere.
The usual pre-requisites for tenancy agreement of credit checks and solid vetting that precede was none -existent under the jurisdiction of Mr Crow, making an opportunity to reside in one of Mr. Crow’s rooms seem too good to be true.
Mr Crow’s back garden was filled with hoarded goods Image: supplied
However, an infested property atop an environment largely inhabited by delinquents made the accommodation a potential recipe for disaster.
Constant anti social behaviour also attracted the visitation of the police to the property. Cops attended over 50 times in one year.
One occasion involved a stabbing incident, with both the perpetrator and victim residing in the same property. It was over a stolen £20, for which a brutal stabbing in the neck was the exactment of revenge. The assailed was jailed for the attack.
On another occasion, Mr Crow unwittingly accommodated county lines drug dealers, leading to a drug raid in which a number of youths were arrested and jailed for dealing with class A drugs.
Neighbours had grown tired of the perpetual disturbance on their road, and complained one after the other, calling for the landlord to be closed down,
However, Mr Crow repeatedly complained to this publication about a council he insisted was roguish, and in cahoots with the neighbours and the courts. He told us they were corrupt and jealous of his the role he was playing in doing their job of housing the homeless.
Persuasions from his family members for him to sell the property and give up the fight with the council fell on deaf ears, as he was hell bent on engaging them in a do or die battle.
A poignant point in the final few years of Mr. Crow’s life came when he was forced to be without electricity for two years after evo energy supplier accused him of tampering with the wires.
Rather than negotiate an instalment plan, Mr Crow went into his shell and rode two winters in the cold without heating.
A neighbour, Jamie Walford, Head of Nazareth House, told The Eye Of Media.Com that they often saw him lighting a gas lamp to heat up tins of food he had obtained from the homeless centre.
‘My kitchen was facing his room, so I could see him many times using the a has lamp to heat up his food. I’m sure he was using to to warm up his place too, but it wouldn’t have been good enough in winter.
‘His family came with several vans and packed lots of items. There were many jackets, clothes, and all sorts of stuff.
His presence caused problems for everyone.
‘Insurance went up on our road, and how prices fell, during the time he was running his property as a landlord.
Commenting on what the property is now worth, he said: In good condition, it would be worth about £200,000, but the most anyone will pay for that now is £180,000, especially with all the work that needs to be done on it.
‘The problem a new buyer will have is being stuck with a property that is falling in value;
Asked if he is saddened that Mr Crow is gone, he said ”no, what I say really is good riddance’!
The bottom property where Mr Crow eventually resided was in negative equity, following a £25,000 debt on the property.
Neighbours complained bitterly about the state of the property, which they said was so unsightly that it affected their state of mind.
Another neighbour who insisted on anonymity told this publication: ”it was difficult to accept that he was finally gone until that bike that was forever in the premises was removed.
”Now, he is gone it is the end of that chapter. we can move on. The road is so peaceful now.
Abandoned bike finally gone from premises Image:supplied
Mr Crow was a hoarder who assembled so much junk in his property and outside his garden.
Neighbours complained to Southend Borough Council none stop about the state of the property, prompting regular visits from council representatives to Devereux Road- Southend’s most sought after Conservation area to challenge the city’s most notorious landlord.
Crow did allege corruption in the council, accusing housing manager, Stuart Burrell, who was later jailed for defrauding the council of £307,000, of championing the course to close down his homelessness business.
The late former landlord insisted when he was alive that he had been informed by reliable sources of several back handers occur in the council, as he urged us to investigate.
Yet, with our eyes and ears open to his claims, numerous visits we made to his residence highlighted the urgent need he had for special intervention.
He needed supervision in every sense, but most close to him lamented his lack of co-operation or yield to good advice.
Mr. Crow was a hoarder whose belongings caused his neighbours problems Image: supplied
Mr Crow’s eventual diagnosis of cancer early this before marked the beginning of the end for the former Essex landlord.
Between the time of his diagnosis and death was a few months- his older brother told this brother he was emaciated -weighing about 9 stone- before he died.
Emergency services were called to transport him to hospital, after they forced their way into his property at the request of his brother who had not heard from him for a long while.
He was found slumped in his room, so was immediately transported to a hospital, then to a hospice in Grays, Essex, where he eventually died.
Yet, amidst the turmoil, there were glimpses of humanity in this frail man who wouldn’t listen to anybody.
Shelter
Crow, for all his faults, provided shelter for the homeless at a time when they needed it most, albeit in sub-optimal conditions.
Some of those who left his accommodation eventually moved to a homeless charity in the local area called HARP.
One former resident of Mr Crow’s property who didn’t want to be named, told this publication: ‘I can’t lie, he put a roof over my head for almost a year when nobody else would offer me accommodation.
‘The place was not in a fit condition for living, but I’ll be honest and say that I would rather have been there than on the streets. I always had heating and could have a daily shower, but he was not in a position t manage a property.
‘There were rats running from one end of the property to another. They would turn up unexpectedly, and sometimes hide for days before showing up again.
‘He wasn’t the full ticket, so I think he meant well, but didn’t have what it takes. The battles with the council were constant, he was always going on about how he was being targeted by them
‘Its a shame he lost it all and died, but I guess it was his time. He lived longer than many will’.
His demise drew a line over a distasteful episode involving his neighbours, highlighting the complexities of his troubled legacy.
Strangely, Crow’s passing occurred within six months of two other close friends, all succumbing to serious illnesses in their final weeks.
A grim reminder of the fragility of life and the interconnectedness of fate, his neighbours view the final clearance as a symbolic expression marking the end of what has been a long chapter in their lives.
Questions still abound as to whether Southend Borough failed him in the end, by allowing a vulnerable man to live without electricity for two years, given the obvious symptoms of mental health issues he displayed.
‘I think Southend Adult Social Services should have known he had mental health issues, one social worker on The Eye Of Media.Com’s thinktank said.
‘A multi agency group needed to have zoomed in and intervened because of his advanced age and the potential consequences that could arise from living in the cold’, one teacher said.
‘The state of his property, and his overall conduct should have made it obvious he was not in his right state of mind.
”Considering he had lost everything, living in the cold should not have been an option at all. He should have probably been moved to a home the moment he was without heating”.
His older brother, who has always requested never to be publicly identified in connection with his brother , said his brother never listened to advice.
But his daughter, Francis Crow, criticised Southend’s Adult social services, accusing them of lousiness and negligence during her father’s final months in hospital.
Mr Crow went from landlord to litigant to mere pensioner within a matter of a few years.
There can be no denying that he brought a temporary solution to the plight of many of the town’s homeless people, albeit accommodating them in sub optimal conditions.
In the end, Robert Crow’s story is a cautionary tale of the highs and lows of human existence.
May his soul rest in perfect peace.