Saw a client yesterday who let it be known as soon as he walked in, that he had been a workman on the blocks of flats I work from.  He turned out to be an odious little squirt - my friend calls it 'little big man syndrome'.  Used the loo and couldn't be arsed to flush it (I digress).

Let drop he regularly meets up for a drink with the main man responsible for building said flats and who is the owner.  Paid a tenner less then he should have done to keep quiet - he gave me no choice on the matter.  There followed a series of texts asking for a discounted session with my friend (who works from the same flat) at some time in the future,  to keep his lips sealed.  Felt we had no option but agree to this - again, a tenner off.

Recieved a text from him this morning - "Spoke to M*** last night"  I didn't respond.  Now he is texting my friend - "You owe me big time.  Out with M*** on Sunday.  If H**** (M's wife) finds out there's trouble."

My friend is contemplating giving him a complete freebie so she can get reg plate details etc

Any advice appreciated.
(PS - I'm not a new poster - just registered a new name for this, as feeling completely paranoid at the minute)

That's gone through my head - when I used to advertise in the local paper, I know the woman responsible for that dept had a contact within the police with whom she liased.  Am trying to find out if this arrangement still exists and get a name for who's best to speak to.

is it your plan to get the number plate to take to the police for id  if so then i  think that going to the police is a good idea to a certain extent as long as your prepared to if you really have to   what i mean is if you say your going to do then make sure that you do
      
   At the moment he is  a bully and  in control of the situation   and it gives him a sense of power. you want to remove that from him  so by threating him with the police you will show him that you have nothing to fear  and that he is the one who will get in trouble not you and your friend
    
also the more you give him the more he will want so at the moment it 10 pounds off
your friend is considering giving him a freebie  whats next ......   blackmailers rarely stop at the first thing  
  
  Downside is that he will probably inform your landlord anyway if the police go to him  and the landord may find out from the police   in fact he dosnt even have to tell the landlord direct he can just send him a letter with your website and number on and pretend that he is a concerned neighbour ect
  
What is your relationship with your landlord like anyway  woud he be the sort to turn a blind eye ( lots do as long as they get there rent )
Is it possbile to cut your losses and move  how much longer do you have left of your contract is it  possible to get  out of it  ( if you do i would let the landlord know exactly why your leaving the property as well  and i would let the smurf know the that im telling the landlord that he is the reason why i have to leave cos he is blakmailing me into having sex with him  )  


  
     Personally ( im not advising you to do this ) but being a bit of a evil cow  what i would do is get his car reg  and also  try to find out exactly where he lives even    If  either of you drive then you could follow him home  ( easier if there are two of you in the car)  his car might not be registerd to him ( mine isnt for that very reason)    

   Once i had his address i would be down to the local libary to find out his real name on the electrol roll, and who he lives with    Then i would tell him that if he continues to blackmail me i am going to the police  and emphasise his real name ( people hate other people knowing there real names especially when there asshole like them)  

 I dont think that even if your landlord knows what your doing he cant just throw you out, i think that he has to give you two months notice regardless  and taking you  to court to evict you would take longer than two months  also your not working in the flat with your friend at the same time i assume that you have seperate contracts for each flat      

( keep all the texts as well as evidence )        
also are you sure that he knows the landlord   

Yes. Try to find personal info on this guy -such as name, company were he worked, phone, address, car plate etc...- Then let him know that you have all his personal details AND you're going to the police station with them (as well as his e-mails & texts) as you're planning to fill in a blackmail complaint. Be very assertive about it and don't sound unsure or hesitating.

Personally I wouldnt contemplate giving him a freebie. I think if you do you'll just end up confusing things and will end up as a he said/she said situation. Gather what information you can and go to the Police straight away. Even if they cant/wont proceed at this stage they will log all the details of the complaint and will respond faster should he persist with being a complete tool.

Sorry this is happening though, its lousy!

R xx

 i would def agree with this which is why i said try to if possible follow him home  -  blackmailers  or anyone who wants to start trouble with other people,  thrive on being in power and bullying  by finding out as much as possible about them you have something to throw back at them  

  i had problems a few years ago with old neigbours kids who were having parties and generally behaving badly ( which i coud live with  but then on one of there parties they  threw a pot of paint out the window and it landed on my car  
   The father  had left to live with his pregnant girlfriend  in the next town  when i asked them for 250 for the excess that i would have to pay they refused  saying that it wasnt there fault   and basically tough
  
Very stupid of them but He had forgotton that his ex wife had given me a key  when she used to live there in the past which i still had as i used to water there plants   So i went in to the house as they no longer lived there  with the plan of finding out where they had moved to,  instead i found out from reading there open mail that they were commiting loads of   benefit fraud by  buying a house in her dads name for them to rent and live in and that she was claiming as a single parent
 
So i rang them up and with the information that i had got  i asked them again to pay for the excess  she was really snotty up to the point that i told  told her name her date of birth and her dads name and address in oxford ( he was a DR  )  and told then i knew exactly what they were planning to do  and that if they didnt give me the 250 excess i would be sending everthing to the DSS   I even gave them the address of where they were living at the moment
at the point it was silence and then a hurried offer of coming round with the money  i refused and said no i would come to them as i knew where they live
      
while its not the same as the op post  knowledge is power so def try to find out as much as possible about the smurf  

Yes. Try to find personal info on this guy -such as name, company were he worked, phone, address, car plate etc...- Then let him know that you have all his personal details AND you're going to the police station with them as you're planning to fill in a blackmail complaint. Be very assertive about it and don't sound unsure or hesitating.

e

out of interest when is your contract up for renewal  -  the reason im asking is if your within your six months period which is standard for ast contracts then your landlord cant do much to get  you out anyway 
 he can give notice in the 4 month so that your out by the sixth month  by issuing a section  21 which is basically saying that they want the property back   (my knowledge on this is a bit rusty but i think it correct and i can check for you if need be )   i had one of those given to me when i rented but its just a cover their ass kind of thing and some landlord issue them as it means they can  get you to have another six months tennancy   instead of a rolling ast contract where you only have to give 2 months notice   

with regard to reference  i wouldnt worry about that you can always write your own 

Well that went well - not!  

Got through to the woman who now handles the newspaper escort and massage ads - she doesn't presently have any arrangement with the police.  Rang the cops anyhow (anonymously) for general advice only to be told by some disinterested nincompoop that prostitution is illegal - or at least that's what he remembers from his 'training' course.