I am being blackmailed! What to do?

Tammy	I agree with the above answer. Under UK law they do not have grounds to sue you for defamation as you have a legitimate defence(s). Even if your complaints about them were false. Unless they have a lot of money (there is no public funding for defamation). it is still unlikely this claim would get heard. I would construe this has further harassment and report the matter to the police. On side note, in legal terms this is not classed as blackmail, so it would be best to tell the police that your neighbours are asking you to retract your complaint or they will sue for defamation.

joan k	Unless they have loads of money they don't stand a chance suing you for defamation. Your defence would be that what you have said is true. You can report it to the Police as further harassment. It would have been wise to call the Environmental Health Department about the noise and they would then have been your witnesses. As long as you can prove the noise you have nothing to worry about.

Lela A	Consult a lawyer for all your legal options are this point..stand your ground..make further police reports of their lastest threats of blackmailling

nas88caror 300 09? way to go BK!	yes you can report this as harassment .. they will need proof of what he said. . the sooner you move the betterof you will be

hog b	Simply report it, as it happened , to the police. If possible audio record, or make a note of any of these threats. I'd also do nothing proactive, basically ignore them, but let them come to you if they would. On no account get angry with them. It sounds like they are a certain kind of person, that the police would recognize, let them dig their own hole if it comes to legal proceedings. Good luck, I know how miserable it can be having noisy neighbours.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz	tell them you will shake their hand and do it anyway. You're moving right. leave no return address unless you get a po box. they can't sue you for defamation of character because a) they are of dubious character b) they're not in anyway a celebrity or well known. no one in the world cares what happens to them.

Rose	A lot of things take evidence to convince people who's right and who's wrong. Did you keep a 'noise diary'; time of noise, what was the noise, effect on family etc. You could also record their noise, even if you've just got a mobile phone that can record sound. That way your neighbours can't sue for defamation if you've got proof. Also consider recording their threats, but dont goad them into it as that could be construed as entrapment.

old know all	Much depends on how much you want to escalate the problem. If what you say is true, he won't get far trying to sue you. If your neighbour continues to act in an antisocial way, tell the landlord. You could get involved in solicitors letters, injunctions and restraining orders, but that's not going to calm your neighbour down. Your local authority might have a neighbourhood mediation service.

kimmie	1st let the police know what's going on,2nd Get a restraining order.

HISSINSID	Keep a diary of any more problems or threats. Do report it to the police and landlord. you're going about things the right way, just keep doing that, good luck. Don't let them get you down xx

douglas m	stand your ground and go to the police about the blackmail

Han	They could only successfully sue you for defamation if you actually did make things up about them! As you haven't, I cannot see they have a hope in hells chance of winning! You could add all this to the police report. Lots of luck, and sorry to hear you're having to move because of them.

David H	Include the blackmail in the report your right don't give in to them.

Lee P	all you can do is keep a record of things and keep hassling the police to help you.

Wilder	dont retract any of your statements, if they counter claim they'll need evidence to back it up. As you seem to have filed the complaints the correct way, then you have nothing to worry about!

seeker	Report it to the police and a lawyer.