NEWS STORY: DECEMBER 2006

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Northwards in the news

Antisocial family evicted after long-running legal battle

A couple and their three children have been evicted from their home in Ascot Road, Newton Heath after a long-running legal battle by Manchester City Council and Northwards Housing, which manages the property on behalf of the Council.

A county court judge found that:

  • their son Ryan Brady, aged 12, made an obscene gesture to a neighbour
  • the Bradys' dog continually barked and growled at a neighbour
  • another son Michael Brady, aged 17, and daughter Laura Brady, aged 19 and visitors, congregated outside the property, drinking, shouting and swearing
  • Ryan Brady used an air rifle in the communal gardens of flats on Ascot Road, with the judge noting from the video film that captured the incident that the weapon was being used in a "casual and potentially dangerous manner.

A Community Support Officer witnessed loud music from the house while carrying out her visits on the estate, according to evidence, and Ryan Brady verbally abused a neighbour and threw a piece of wood at his dog.

Ryan Brady and others also tied videotape across Ascot Road in full view of his father, Anthony, who admitted in evidence that a cyclist had to brake sharply and went over his handlebars. A motorist also had to brake and skidded on seeing the tape.

The court also accepted that Ryan, again in the company of his father, made an obscene gesture towards a neighbour's property and that Anthony Brady had used threatening language towards a neighbour's 16-year-old daughter.

Ryan Brady had also been seen kicking a ball at a cat and his father encouraging two boys to throw stones and flick mud at a neighbour's house.

Evidence submitted to a previous court hearing in May last year showed Ryan and Michael Brady persistently riding go peds and petrol scooters across a communal green and a local road; Ryan Brady involved in incidents including stone-throwing with his brother Michael Brady, trespassing into neighbours' gardens, swinging on a neighbour's porch canopy, kicking a football against a neighbour's car and attempting to set fire to a bush, shining a torch through neighbours' windows, and damaging a fence. Their sister Laura Brady was also seen drinking alcohol in the street.

Karen Brady, aged 39, and her 38-year-old husband, had tried and failed to appeal to the High Court to prevent them being evicted and had put in a last-minute application for a stay of execution on the eviction warrant and failed again.

On October 30, bailiffs moved into the three-bedroom terrace house- now vacated by the family - to give Northwards Housing possession and to enable them to ready the property for new tenants.

The Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Eddy Newman, said: "This has been an extended legal battle to remove this family but it demonstrates just how determined the City Council and its partners are in reaching an acceptable conclusion. It means other residents can enjoy some peace and quiet free from the disturbance caused by this family."

Chair of Northwards Housing's Board of Directors, Ade Alao, added: "It is just as important to protect the quality of life of our tenants as it is to improve their homes, and this is why we will use all the legal tools at our disposal to combat anti-social behaviour. We would like to reassure our tenants that we will take action as soon as we become aware of any behaviour that is causing distress or disrupting people's lives."

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