Gay man receives homophobic death threats after moving neighbour’s bin
Joshua ‘Josh’ Val Martin says that the incident is the culmination of months of “curtain twitching” and passive-aggressive behaviour
A gay man received homophobic death threats which vowed to “end” and “destroy” him after moving his neighbour’s bin.
Joshua ‘Josh’ Val Martin had a barely legible note placed on the communal front door of the block to his two-bedroom flat last Sunday morning just hours after moving the bins.
It read: “To Mr Gay, if you move my bin I will put an end to you. You may find an ex merenary (sic) ex Royal MM (sic) may call on you not to have a chat but to destroy.
“From Flat 2.”
The 30-year-old writer and tour guide moved the bins - which he claims one neighbour has a particular obsession with - to look for a statue of Buddha, which is perpetually going missing and replaced it in “roughly” the same position.
Josh says that the incident is the culmination of months of “curtain twitching” and passive-aggressive behaviour that both he and his partner have been subjected to since moving to the “middle class” and “leafy” area of Heaton Moor, Greater Manchester in March.
He explained: “I was living in Clayton beforehand, which was really working class and never had any complaints.
“We got on with neighbours and it was great. This is at the other end of the spectrum, I knew there would be lots of rules and regulations.
“I was expecting egg and spoon races at the park and pub quizzes but it’s lots of curtain twitching.
“I think we stand out and I think we’ve been watched - it makes you paranoid.”
Josh and his partner - who does not wish to be named - said their treatment has “tainted” moving to the flat in the middle-class area.
He said the issues with one neighbour began shortly after they moved in and put some outdoor furniture in the communal area of their block of flats.
This annoyed one neighbour who moved it without asking, he claimed. Josh later placed a £12 statue of Buddha outside the block but it quickly vanished without explanation.
When he confronted the neighbour - who he says is very particular about the position of the bins - he says he initially denied it was him before admitting that he put the statue in the bin “to stop local teenage kids smashing it”.
Josh retrieved it and placed it back outside his flat before finding that it had been damaged a few weeks later.
This constant back and forth continued for weeks until it disappeared for good at the weekend - prompting Josh to move to communal bins outside the block in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to find it.
They were not returned exactly how they were, something which Josh believes led to a neighbour sending him the abusive letter.
He has reported the incident to Greater Manchester Police, which confirmed that it “is aware of this incident and following a number of lines of enquiry”.
Speaking about the abuse, he said: “It has tainted the flat for me. There were a few things beforehand and looking at this note I may speak to the landlady and say ‘I know the contract’s for 12 months but it feels to me like it’s not working out’.
“I don’t know how you move on to this. Can you have any kind of mediation when you get homophobic death threats? You can’t just say ‘sorry don’t worry about it’.
“I don’t want to speak to him and I don’t know what really can be said.
“People must have had dealings with him before but I just don’t know how he’s going to change. I just think that’s going to be who he is.”