By Jennifer Cosgrove

A DUNDEE woman who suffered verbal abuse from a Broughty Ferry man, found to be in contravention of an ASBO, says “the system” failed them both.

Council tenant Rhonda Laws (55), formerly of Forthill Drive, told The Courier she never wanted the matter to end up in court, and the housing department should not have put 70-year-old Donald Conway in the flat above her in the first place.

A council spokesman said, “Dundee City Council did everything in its power to resolve this unfortunate situation.”

Ms Laws was relieved that court proceedings were finally over and said that she wished to put the last two years of misery behind her and move on.

But she last night delivered a stark warning to council tenants suffering what she endured, saying people shouldn’t put their hopes in the Anti-social Behaviour Team or the housing department if they want peace.

“When I tried to speak to the wardens or my housing officer about the problems I was having, I was told the police had to be phoned for witnesses.”

Ms Laws added, “I didn’t want to call the police on an old man—I’d never had to call them about anything like this in the past.

“My neighbour was so angry with me because he knew I had been complaining about him—it just gets you into more trouble.”

Ms Laws moved out of her Forthill Drive flat about three weeks after Mr Conway was moved to the flat above in June 2005.

“The trouble started the very first night he moved in,” she said.

“He was bringing people to the house and people started drinking and then arguing and fighting.

“My mum now lives in sheltered housing along the road and I went to stay with her.

“Before that, she lived in the Forthill Drive flat for 20 years and I lived there for about 10, before she decided to move away.

“I was so depressed because I’d spent all my savings on the flat getting it the way I liked it. I thought I’d be there for ever.”

After problems began with Mr Conway, she barely returned to her flat for fear of more arguments or noise, but continued to hear from worried neighbours.

“I asked the council if he had been vetted and they said they didn’t know much about his history,” she said.

“They knew what he was like, but they passed the buck to me and, when he got an ASBO, it was too easy for them to hide behind that and tell me I should be calling the ASBO team.”

Ms Laws fought hard to get a transfer and was eventually re-housed.

She says the council need to rethink their ways, with every tenant with an anti-social problem put on a short secured tenancy if re-housed, with a probation period to prove they can live sociably.

“I know for a fact there are people in schemes who have loud neighbours and they have to move away to escape the noise because they have no other choice.”

She added, “I don’t blame Mr Conway—he is the way he is.

“It’s more the way I have been treated with all the secrecy and being told he hadn’t done anything.

“We were both let down by the system.”