Report by Nelson W Sharpe on bad behaviour in Egremont
In 2006, Mrs Jean Sharpe died leaving me and my brother Mr Edwin Sharpe as joint heirs to the property 74 Main Street Egremont, then valued at £77,000. This residence was also my home where I lived alone.
In late 2006, I was subjected to threats of physical violence to my person from my brother and I applied for a restraining order against him at Whitehaven County Court.
Judith Crisp of Bleasdale & Co acted for their client Mr Edwin Sharpe as the defendant and she was therefore well aware of the duress to which I was subjected by my brother. My application for a restraining order was unsuccessful on a technical procedural issue.
Shortly thereafter I suffered a nervous breakdown due to the duress I was subjected. In April 2007 I was admitted to the West Cumberland Hospital following a suicide attempt.
I was given psychiatric care, but I discharged myself from hospital in order to attend the offices of Bleasdale & Co, as required by them, in Whitehaven. There I spoke to their Mr Blenkiron.
On behalf of their client my brother, Bleasdale & Co had drawn up a Contract for me to sign. I explained that 'I was unwell', that I had just left hospital following a suicide attempt and that I had no legal advice or representation of my own.
The Contract was for their client my brother to buy out my half share in my home for just £10,000. This was an undervalue short by £28,500 since my half share was worth £38,500.
That afternoon and alone, under duress from my brother, I signed the Contract and Land Registry documents put before me in the offices of Bleasdale & Co witnessed by their secretary. I was mentally ill and only wanted to be left alone by my brother.
Bleasdale & Co were aware that I was acting under duress, that I was unwell and that I had no legal representation.
They stood by and watched me sign their Contract in their offices which parted me from my half share in my home for £10,000. This was £28,500 short of the true value.
My dealings with Bleasdale & Co involved their Judith Crisp and their Mr Blenkiron, who were in communication with each other throughout.
No longer having part title to the property I was then violently evicted from 74 Main Street by my brother and made homeless and left on the streets, mentally unwell and with only the clothes I was stood in.
The Intimidation. I am threatened and made ill
On the evening of 29th November 2006 I received an abusive and intimidating letter from my brother pushed through the letter box of the flat in Egremont (38A). It was unsigned but as my brother pushed it through the door, he shouted "Here you are wanker - I'm going to fucking catch up with you". He then went away.
His letter was intimidating and called me, in typed capital letters, “scumbag”, “always born a runt”, “a parasitic twat”, “a lying bastard” and “a sneaky shit”. In his letter, he said that I should pay all my mother's debts. He had arrived at the door to the flat with this letter with him already pre-written.
I informed the Police at Egremont Station of this incident. I handed a copy of the abusive letter to both the police and also to my brother's solicitors Bleasdale & Co (39A). When I asked the police to have a word with my brother, the police at Egremont said they would take no action against my brother until he physically assaulted me and told me that until I was actually hit by my brother they would do nothing. The police suggested I take civil action at the County Court in Whitehaven.
My brother's solicitors, in the person of Judith Crisp of Bleasdale & Co, wrote back to me to say that the copy of the abusive letter from my brother which I had provided to them had been "returned to its writer". This seemed to me a rather delphic way of referring to their client, but clearly Judith Crisp was well aware that my brother was intimidating me. As far as I can tell, Bleasdales did nothing to restrain my brother in his decision to take the law into his own hands.
On 14th December 2006, as the police suggested, I asked the County Court for a restraining order on my brother (40A), asking that he be required to keep away from me. I was in fear for my safety. The case was heard on 5th January 2007 at Whitehaven County Court (40B) where I presented the intimidating letter. My brother Edwin did not appear at Court, but instead he was represented by his solicitor, Judith Crisp, who said he was not present because he had a very pressing dental appointment. Before anything was said in court, my brother's solicitor passed a note to the sitting Judge. The Judge then asked me why I thought it was appropriate for me to bring this case in this County Court. I didn't quite understand what he was talking about, and I had no instant answer to this question. The Judge then said that my application was not appropriate for the County Court, and he advised me instead to try at the local Magistrates' Court, which he said would involve less paper-work. At the request of my brother's solicitor the Judge struck the case from the record and awarded costs of £290 against me to my brother's solicitor Judith Crisp. I have since discovered that Ms Crisp is herself also a part-time judge. Also, I have since received legal advice that the County Court is the usual place for these types of hearings, and there was no reason why this case should not have been heard. (In a bizarre twist, since these events Judith Crisp has denied any knowledge that she was present at the Court for this case, which is odd since I saw her there with my own eyes sitting opposite me. She has also cashed the £290 cheque.)
On 15th January 2007 at 8.00am my mother's cat was diagnosed as having suffered kidney failure. The cat was 23 years old, and had been in my keep for 10 years. I held the cat in my hands as the vet euthanised it by lethal injection later that same morning. I was not accustomed to this sort of thing and was rather upset by the experience. Later, that same afternoon my brother called round to the flat in Egremont, and being off-balance I allowed my brother into the flat. The conversation between us deteriorated rapidly, mostly due to the abuse my brother directed at me. I was required by him to put the Egremont flat on the market with estate agents. Later that evening, I telephoned my mother's sister, my Aunt Betty, and told her I had taken just about as much as I could, and that I was suicidal. In hindsight, I can see now that my mental state deteriorated visibly from this point toward breakdown. My brother's bullying behaviour to me was the chief cause. I was frightened of him. I should add that throughout my entire life I had had no previous symptoms of mental illness.
Over the months from August 2006 onward, I would have spoken to various people in general terms about the trouble I was being given by my brother, but I would not have gone into specifics. In any case, they could only re-tell what I told them. Egremont is a small town, and one does not air one's problems in public. I didn't confide in my neighbours, nor did I confide in my relatives. But I think a lot of them could see I was behaving strangely, even if they did not know about the pressures to which I was subject.
It is easier to air one's problems to people far away, rather as one might confide to a psychiatrist in the confidence of the consulting room. After my mother's death I had been in the habit of emailing Ms Barbie Wilt in New Mexico (she was a friend of my mother’s) and also I was emailing some of my contemporaries from my university days. Again these contacts can only report what I had been telling them about my brother's behaviour, but they could contribute nothing as first-hand witnesses. Obviously, my brother was careful never to bully and abuse me if there were witnesses present. In fact, I suspect Edwin presents a quite different personality to people in public.
In one email I sent to Ms Barbi Wilt on 3rd March 2007 (43A), I reveal that I was already having thoughts of suicide and it is clear that I was very depressed.
In January 2007 'Your Move' Estate Agents valued the flat at 74 Main Street in Egremont at £77,000 and it was advertised on the market at £82,000. During February and March I showed a total of three prospective buyers around the flat but no offers were made. I remember at this time being emotionally exhausted and I was prone to panic attacks and anxiety attacks and overwhelming feelings of impending doom. Edwin's plan was that the flat should be sold as quickly as possible, I should move out, that he could then bank his half of the money, and I was to look out for myself, even though I was clearly ill by this stage.