Call the Cops

The following morning Sunday 11th September I answered the phone and it was The Cowboy. He said ‘What about the money you owe me?’
I said to him ‘*****, you’re unbelievable – I thought you said call it quits and you weren't coming back - if anything I should be chasing you for money - I can’t talk to you, you're totally unreasonable ‘and I hung up.

Around two o’clock that afternoon I was back up on the roof adjusting the tarpaulin when I heard The Cowboy at the side gate, which was locked, shouting to my son ‘***** ***** let me in’.
I got down off the roof and went round to the front of the house where I could see The Cowboy and his worker Darren still at the back gate.
I asked The Cowboy what he was doing here. He came over and said he’d come for his tools and gear.
I told him that as he and Darren well knew all his tools were over on Mr *****’s property behind the house where Darren had put them weeks earlier.
I told him that the only materials we had were a few bags of plaster which we’d paid him for and were keeping.
He then stuck his face into mine and said ‘What about my money? Where’s the f**king money you owe me. Give me my f**king tools and money’ .
I told him to get off my property. He refused and kept repeating give me my f**king tools.
I repeatedly told him I didn’t have his tools and to get off my property.

He then tried to push past me to enter the property and I pushed him back twice down the drive. I then said to him ‘Final warning get off my property or I'll use reasonable force to get you off’.
At this he put up his fists and said ‘You’ve f**king had it, nobody bumps me, you’re f**king dead’.
At this his friend Darren jumped in a pulled him back down the drive saying ‘Leave it ***** - it’s not worth it!

I shouted to my wife to call the police, which she did.
I then took the phone from my wife and explained to the operator that an ex-builder was on our property, refusing to leave and using threatening behaviour.
On hearing the words threatening behaviour The Cowboy moved to the end of our drive and started making a telephone call himself. (my wife is of the opinion that he has been done for this offence before)
The police said they were on their way and would be with us in five to ten minutes. The Cowboy then started shouting and swearing saying things like ‘You should f**k off from around here - nobody likes you, even your neighbours hate you…..give me my f**king money you f**king thieves…. you don’t pay your bills…..you’re all on drugs ………
I shouted back 'you've had £21000 of our money for a pile of s**t and the only the people round here on drugs are you and your workers'. I could feel the neighbours eyes peeping out from around their curtains.

At this he started to make a move back up the drive towards us and I suggested to my wife that we go inside and wait for the police to arrive.
I went and got my video camera, the battery was flat but I pointed it out the front window at him where he was still shouting and swearing on our driveway.
When he saw the camera he shut up and went back to his van and waited inside. (Later I was asked to produce video footage for the court - how I wished I'd filmed this event. Everyone would have seen his true colours, not the passive hurt victim stance he tried to portray before the Judge)
The police arrived about five minutes later.
The police suggested that I allow The Cowboy onto the property to collect the bags of plaster. They said that if I gave them to him, he would have no more excuses for coming round and could then be arrested for harassment if he came back again.
I agreed to let Darren come onto the property to collect the plaster.

Before they left the police gave us an incident number and said to us that we should get a solicitor and that if The Cowboy came anywhere near the property again to call them and he would be arrested. They then went to speak to The Cowboy and waited until he had driven off.

The whole event was surreal. In all the twelve years we'd lived in the village I'd never seen anything like it, except on television on programs like the BBC's Rogue Traders.