* Roslyn, 3 Jul: 'Bid to outwit police'
(21004) Two residents have complained about a noisy student party in Roslyn Road, Cotham, on Saturday, 3 July 2021. They also say Operation Beech should have taken firmer action.
Resident1 said in a complaint to UoB the students had only recently moved in. She contacted Beech at 11-10pm because there was "a lot of noise" from both music and partygoers.
Earlier she had watched from her living-room window as people arrived at the house. "When they saw me, they shouted verbal abuse at me and one lad exposed his backside to me, photo attached."
What happened next also made her angry, as the students apparently attempted to prevent the police catching them inside the house in breach of Covid restrictions.
She says that when the Beech officers arrived, the students switched off the music and then "all ran out into the back garden. I heard them saying 'let’s all stay out here and they can’t get us.'
"The police attended briefly and promptly left, which I was surprised about, given the level of noise" that was still being made by the people in the garden.
She says she went into the street to speak to the officers, but was told that as the students were all outside, they were not breaking Covid laws.
"I informed [the officers] that the party was inside before they came along and in any event, the sheer noise in the garden was an issue. I have young children sleeping and we have to be up early in the morning."
She invited the officers into her house to look into the garden and hear "the noise I was being subjected to" but the officers were still not persuaded and departed.
"The students went back inside the house shortly after the police left the road. However, they all then left the property not long afterwards and the music stopped.
"It was obnoxious behaviour by the students and a blatant attempt to outwit the police."
Resident2, who lives further down Roslyn Road, also complained to UoB about the incident. She says that before the police turned up there was singing and shouting to music. Even though her doors and windows were closed "it sounded like it was next door".
"I went out to see which house it was and there were some people in the street talking. When they saw the police car, they ran inside and closed the front door. The police officers were only inside a couple of minutes and they were about to leave" when she saw Resident1 approach the officers. She heard some of the conversation that ensued.
"When I went to bed, the noise was as bad as before ... The police being there didn’t seem to make a lot of difference to the volume of noise. ... However, the students left the house."
She adds that as well as the incident on Saturday night, there had been "music blaring" from a top-floor window at the house the previous night.
Also on Saturday, she says, there was noise in the street at about 1 am. She saw "a group of about 20 walking down the road" and then a group of six going in the opposite direction.
Resident1 also reports, in a separate email to me, that she had texted Operation Beech earlier on Saturday night when she saw people arriving at a house on the opposite side of the street. She saw officers turn up and knock on the door but there was no answer and they left. She understands another person also contacted Beech about this property.
AW: I saw seven people, clearly visitors, arrive at this same house at about 00:30am. It was evident some kind of gathering was in progress. I was in Roslyn Road briefly, though unaware at that time of any of the above. The house where students ran into the back garden was quiet by this time, which accords with the residents' accounts.
Reported to UoB or UWE: B
Raised with landlord / property agents: --
Reported to police: Beech
Complaint # in series: 1
Previous report citing this address: xxxxxx
Total incident(s) in this report: * 4
# From 1 July 2021
* Includes incidents mentioned in this email that have not been recorded previously.