the island of madagascar suffered a mudslide with 65 thousand people left homeless. malawi lost most of its power across the country because of flooding. now on bbc news, it's panorama. if this happened to your home... smash. ..would you be confident the authorities would put a stop to it? i'm a very strong woman. but you can only take so much. tonight on panorama, the communities struggling with anti—social behaviour... i'm fed up with it happening because it isjust going to be a matter of time before someone gets killed. ..the people afraid in their own homes... i fear for my life. i'm serious about it. ..and we ask why an important protection for victims isn't

being widely used. it is a shocking failure, frankly, and it needs to change. i'm in hemlington, a housing estate on the outskirts of middlesbrough. rates of anti—social behaviour here are high — some residents feel under attack. shouting smashing in the past five months the man who lives here has had his windows smashed six times. he's too afraid to show

his face or be named, so we're calling him paul. it started in august, _ and i was confronted by a youth sat at the end of the roof. paul challenged the youth. it was the beginning of an ordeal that would last for months. a few days later, i heard noises at the front - of the house and went out to find 20 plus of them, . aged between nine and 15, i who began to throw concrete. big pieces of concrete... they started to throw it at your house? at my house and myself. i was in such - a state that night. i didn't know whether i was coming or going. i it wasn't a one—off. each time he called the police. operator: police emergency. my house is being attacked by youths, please. - smashing. they're just smashing my kitchen window. l operator: i've got police travelling - bear with me. | thank you. smashing. 0h!

in all, paul's had to call the police 13 times. they've assigned him a community support officer and increased patrols. paul's housing association have helped install cctv. it's been quiet since december, but he's still nervous. i fear for my life. really? fear for my life. i'm serious about it. i feel really boxed—in. it begins to affect your mental health, your physical health. i it's torture. what makes behaviour anti—social is when it causes harassment, alarm or distress. sometimes it also involves criminal offences being committed. people do not understand the harm that anti—social behaviour causes. sometimes the cumulative impact of anti—social behaviour is more damaging than, say,

if somebody suffers one serious physicalassault, because, you know, it plagues your life. it is literally living a nightmare. the past few months it's escalated, to the point where we cannot afford for it to get any worse. local labour councillor jeanette walker has lived in hemlington for 44 years. she says a small number of children and teenagers are responsible for most of the problems. the police, unfortunately, when they do get them or they do pick them up, sometimes they're as young as 11 —11—year—old. we know that some of the parents have lost control of these children. but when you see your child going out, all dressed in black with gloves, mask up to there, hood down to there, then you've got to start questioning what your child is doing. jeanette's worried that behaviour in hemlington is getting out of control.

this weekend i have reports that there were kids running around with iron bars, bricks, stones, bottles. this is what we're living with now on a day—to—day basis. let's stop it. i don't want this area to look like it does. i don't want people to live in fear. i want people to want to live here. businesses like the gables pub are also being targeted. publican jo thirkell lives upstairs with her partner and three kids. all right? one night in august she heard a noise outside. i'd just gone to bed and ijust heard two thumps. my son came out of his bedroom and he said, "mam, i think somebody's banging on the window." i'll be honest, ijust couldn't believe what i saw. the pub wasjust covered in glass. two months later there was

a second attack on the gables. replacing the broken glass has so far cost £11,000. the thing that upset me the most was they had the audacity to do my home. ijust thought, "what have i done wrong? i've done absolutely nothing," and i thought, "well, is it me?" and so i started to be nicer, thinking, "have i not smiled at people enough? what have i done wrong?" early one morning in november, there was yet another attack on her home. it was an attack, and it was... it was a horrible attack. i wanted to curl up and just wanted to curl up and give it up and say, "right, that's enough."

ijust don't know where it's going to end, and i don't honestly think that it will, really. the police investigated, but no—one has been charged. cleveland police have tried to crack down on hemlington�*s wave of anti—social behaviour. two months ago they ran a week—long operation. my name's daryll tomlinson, and i'm the chief inspector. for middlesbrough neighbourhood police team, and this week - we've had a high—impact operation in hemlingtonj ward in middlesbrough. a man was arrested, a knife was found, patrols were increased and leaflets were handed out. the local council is trying to tackle it too, with street wardens and cctv cameras. andy preston is middlesbrough's independent elected mayor. we install cameras, we get patrols here, we work with the police. the police have responded, arrests have been made,

and, categorically, the number of offences which i track closely have gone down. so that's good news, but it's not enough. a lot of people are scared to report crime. we need residents, the people who live here, to report crimes. if they don't report it, we don't know about it. we all need to work together and fight this. but some people are afraid to speak out. landladyjo thirkell only discovered the full extent of problems on the estate after her windows had been smashed. everybody was so frightened to say anything. they didn't want to get the police involved because they didn't want their windows going in. and of the people who do know who it is, they're frightened too because they don't want repercussions. filming at night, i soon see why. 0ff camera, a group of teenagers surrounds us, asking what we're doing. we're gonna go. all right, lads.

soon after, stones are thrown at our car as we drive out of the estate. we've just had to leave hemlington really quickly. we were approached by a group of what must have been ten youths. they were saying things like they run the estate. they were only teenagers, but it was pretty intimidating. cleveland police say they're working closely with the council, housing providers, children's services and anti—social behaviour teams to solve problems in hemlington. their neighbourhood policing teams are gathering intelligence, and they say they're committed to working with residents to reduce crime. across the uk, it's hard to know the current scale of anti—social behaviour. reports to the police have been falling for several years, although there was an increase in 2020. but the figures don't include reports to councils

or housing providers. charities who support victims say they're seeing more people asking for help. we are a national charity that hear from victims every day. and every day our figures, as in website traffic, increases. people that work in police forces, council workers, housing officers, landlords — everybody is saying that it continues to increase. councils and housing providers deal with some anti—social behaviour, but primary responsibility has always fallen to the police. the victims commissioner believes they don't give it a high enough priority. they regard it as a kind of sub—crime, "a bit. of bother," something - where theyjust go and comfort the person... if it's theft or burglary, . they know where they are and what they're doing. but if it's something i that could be a crime, they don't take iti seriously enough. and they truly need to do.

andy prophet helps coordinate the national police response to anti—social behaviour. anti—social behaviour is not a low—level crime. it can cover a huge range of issues. and we are incredibly focused on helping officers see and understand those cases that are potentially looking really concerning. do we get it right all the time? no. do we get it right the vast majority of the time? yes. do you think police forces, do you think they prioritise things like thefts, burglary, assaults over anti—social behaviour, which might seem initially more trivial? it's not that simple. police forces do prioritise, but quite often it comes in as anti—social behaviour but actually it's criminality, and police forces respond appropriately in those cases. we wanted to take a closer look at how the uk's 45 police forces respond to complaints of anti—social behaviour. so we asked all of them

about the reports they'd received in the 12 months to last september. had they sent an officer out, called a victim back, resolved the issue straightaway, referred it to another agency, or taken no action? their answers indicate there's a real lack of consistency in what individual forces know about how they're tackling anti—social behaviour. just under half were able to answer at least one of our questions, nine didn't respond at all and the remaining 16 — which is around about a third — told us they didn't have that information easily available. it's really, really difficult to sit here and account for, you know, the approaches that different forces take. what i can say is that i think it's entirely right that, you know, police forces up and down the country should understand what's happening in their communities, understand what that profile of anti—social behaviour looks like and how they're responding to it. the most surprising reply we received to our questions about how individual forces respond to anti—social

behaviour came from greater manchester police. they said they'd had 84,000 reports of anti—social behaviour but couldn't tell us how they'd been dealt with. .. ..because, they said, it would take more than 42,000 hours — the equivalent of one person working for more than four and a half years — to answer our questions. greater manchester police say tackling anti—social behaviour is a key priority. they're confident they have the tools to understand it — including the identification of repeat victims, offenders, locations, and trends associated with anti—social behaviour. if left unresolved, anti—social behaviour that often begins as an irritation can turn into something more serious. here in county durham, people say these... bike engine roars. ..are a real menace.

young bikers tearing about, blind to safety. four years ago, trevor robinson was taking his 16—year—old dog tom for his nightly walk. a stolen quad bike with its lights off came up behind them. he was he was doing about 30, a0 miles an hour along the footpath, i didn't hear until it was right on us. and, tom, being 16, he was deaf. knocked him flying. the teenage rider fell off and ran away, abandoning the bike. i knew with the force that it hit the dog that the dog would be killed. so i just sat with him, cuddled him a little while, as he slipped away. he was a good dog, a good friend.

man's best friend is his dog. he was very faithful, very well behaved, you know. didn't deserve that. trevor got a good look at the rider, and immediately called the police. they investigated, but the crown prosecution service said there wasn't enough evidence to take it to court. how did that make you feel? 0h, very annoyed. very annoyed, i'd like to see, whatever the age or what have you, if you break the law that there's something done about it. durham police say their officers are working hard to find solutions to anti—social behaviour, with durham county council, local fire and rescue services and other agencies, to deal with this multi—faceted problem.

last march, former royal marine sean ivey was driving through the village of shotton colliery in county durham. an off—road bike pulled out of a junction. thought it was going to hit the car. he basically come along alongside my car on the pavement, pulled a wheelie and went out in front. this wasn't the first time sean had seen bikers ride dangerously, so he pulled over and began filming. howay! i'm waiting foryou! i was shouting him back because i wanted to video him, i wanted to show people what's happening. and then he went over the other side of the road where there's a green and he wheel—spun loads of mud and dirt. covered three cars, i think it was. got some evidence here. sean posted his video on social media. he thought it might help identify the biker.

just angry. just angry, very angry. i'm fed up of it happening because it isjust going to be a matter of time before someone gets killed. here he is again. the police arrived five minutes later but the biker had gone. a couple of days later, things began to escalate. sean says he was alerted to a post on social media which appeared to threaten his home. he told the police, who say they arrested a suspect who was later released without charge. a day later, sean was woken in the early hours. alarms. it was only through pure instinct i'd woken up. but when you wake up, and you see the orange glow out the window, realise your car's on fire,

run round and then see the caravan's catching the house. and you've got, at the time, a seven—year—old and a five—year—old child in bed, it is terrifying. sean carried his children to safety. i put a duvet over our heads as i carried them over to the neighbours' over the road and we closed the blinds over there so they couldn't see the flames. the family were safe, but they couldn't save their home. so, this is the remainder. yeah, absolutely horrendous. unbelievable. it's notjust the case of setting someone's car, caravan on fire. it lives with you forever

and it changes you as a person. the police investigated but no—one has been charged. sean thinks more should be done to tackle anti—social behaviour before it turns into more serious crime. it has highlighted to me the problem with anti—social behaviour, how it became so much of a problem and how out of hand it's been allowed to become. because that low level crime, when not dealt with and nipped in the bud early, escalates and turns into your house being burnt down. durham police say their sympathies are with the ivey family, and that anyone with any information should report it to them, the local authority, or crimestoppers. across the uk, police forces and local councils are using a broad range of powers to crack down on anti—social behaviour.

but in england and wales, if a victim feels they're not doing enough, there is another way to try to resolve their problems. back in 2014 the government brought in a new law designed to help victims who'd made repeated complaints about anti—social behaviour but felt they were getting nowhere. it's called the anti—social behaviour case review, or community trigger. it's aimed at forcing the agencies like the police and local councils to look again at complaints. when you've tried three times, to anybody, to complain about anti—social behaviour, you can press the community trigger. that requires all the authorities to meet together and resolve your problem. for the victim, it's excellent, because now the law says, you're the one who says, put this right to the authorities. who's responsible for making sure the community trigger is used? i mean, local authorities, police and crime commissioners all have to promote it. but the message doesn't seem

to have got through everywhere. what do you know about the community trigger? i don't know what the community trigger is. the community trigger is for victims of anti—social behaviour. right, well let me tell you, i don't know what you'd want to call it, community trigger or whatever else. i promise you that the housing associations, that we're working incredibly closely with them, our teams and the police. we all come together. middlesbrough council later said it's carried out seven community trigger reviews in the past five years, and says anti—social behaviour has fallen over the same period. almost one in five councils in england and wales responsible for anti—social behaviour who replied to a panorama request for information said they'd never run a community trigger. if you are a victim of anti—social behaviour in england or wales today, there is a good chance that you're not going to get your case resolved, because nobody is checking that police forces and councils know

what the tools and powers are, how they can use them, and that they should them. there were 1.8 million incidents of anti—social behaviour reported to police in england and wales in the year to june. our research suggests in 2021, councils that responded to us ran only around 300 community trigger reviews. it is a shocking failure, frankly, and it needs to change. it's an important right. the government needs to start driving this agenda, big style. the government says it's committed to tackling anti—social behaviour and ensuring that victims get the support they deserve. it says all local councils were written to last year to remind them of their duties around community triggers and police involvement in them will be monitored. accusations of anti—social behaviour can sometimes begin

with disputes between neighbours. if they get out of hand, the impact can be serious, particularly on mental health. so sweet. in staffordshire, john grocott is still coming to terms with the death of his 56—year old twin sister — amanda dunn — last year. what was amanda like? great, lovely. that was just outside barmouth. probably �*76, �*77, that was. so we were about, dunno, nine, ten, something like that. she was amazing, she was. yeah. health problems meant amanda gave up work and spent more time at home, but she'd always got on well with her neighbours. in we go. three years ago, things began to go wrong when a minor dispute over

feeding birds escalated. both sides called the police, claiming to be victims. was it affecting her mental health? oh yeah, cos that was the trigger, the trigger of her downfall, basically. and did you notice that in her physical appearance in the months... in the last 12 months, yeah. when you see the photographs of last august and christmas, she looked a very poorly lady. amanda had told staffordshire police she was at the end of her tether. the police need to be more alert, how they approach people with mental health. in march last year, john called at amanda's house and found her on the floor. she'd taken her own life. so i walked in and there she was. 0n the floor, in the kitchen.

i collapsed on the floor. the shock. i never slept all night... i never slept all night. i don't think i slept for a few nights. if you're a twin, you can't imagine. half of me's gone. half my soul's gone. an inquest was held into amanda's death. the coroner didn't hear from her neighbours, but said a major reason for herfatal actions was an ongoing problem with them. the coroner also submitted a report to staffordshire police. it was critical of their handling of amanda's complaints. he said there was a real concern police were seeking to brush such incidents under the carpet and were not taking

them sufficiently seriously. staffordshire police say they have apologised to mrs dunn's family, have taken on board the concerns identified by the coroner, and have put in place actions to improve their response to cases like this. the neighbours say what happened to mrs dunn was very, very sad and say there are always two sides to arguments such as this. deaths connected to anti—social behaviour are rare, but there have been others. our research has identified four more deaths in the last 12 months where anti—social behaviour is alleged to have played a part. it's absolutely shocking that people died. that shouldn't ever happen. that is a failure to protect by police in particular but also by local authorities have a serious responsibility. i mean, every case where someone loses a life is a tragedy.

and when we look back at those, and we do, invariably there are opportunities to do better and the sorts of things where we tend to need to do better is that early understanding of the problem. early engagement, it's seldom a single agency. getting the response right together is the best way to prevent those small number of horrific tragedies that can happen. nine months after sean ivey�*s house was gutted by fire in county durham, he and his family are finally able to move back in. so, finally the house is rebuilt and we're home, and it'sjust great to be back. for others, their ordeal continues. i'm a very strong woman. but you can only take so much. and i've got to live in fear

that they're going to do it again, and again and again. do you never think about moving away? i have, but, and i wouldn't say that i won't in the future. but part of me inside thinks, why should i be bullied out? i've done nothing wrong. i am torn. absolutely torn. anti—social behaviour damages lives and communities. victims want the police and councils to use all the powers at their disposal so they can once again feel safe in their own homes.

this is bbc news. our top stories: police launch an investigation into whether parties at downing street violated covid rules. a spokesman says borisjohnson didn't think he had broken the law. more tough talk over ukraine — president biden says he'd consider personal sanctions on vladimir putin if russia invaded ukraine at least 46 people are killed as tropical storm ana hits madagascar and mozambique. thousands have had to leave their homes. coronavirus breaks out among crew on an aid ship headed for tonga, hampering relief efforts as authorities try to keep the islands covid—free.