Homophobia, Toxic Neighbours and Police Corruption - Michael Rooke’s Story

Michael Rooke and supporter

I am telling my story for those damaged by corruption, and to help those who maybe can gain some information to help their fight with the UK police forces.

We have seen lots of their tricks of the trade, shown to many that have passed the level of no return - meaning a little favour to support an officer, or a little bonus for helping a bad copper. Then, they have tasted what they never thought would change: how they treat the public. We’re getting used to defending the scum that keep getting away with corruption.

Sadly, the virus spreads, and many see their mates in policing getting away with murder. I really do believe that some in Hampshire Police have lost their jobs for not doing what the dinosaurs want - and if we don’t all stand up to them, they carry on hurting good people. You never know if your daughter or son will be a target. I know my partner and I will both be targets soon; we know how they get away with letting the public know we have wolves in sheep’s clothing, and we receive abuse from the very ones that look after the public. I’m sick of it, sick of reading it, it’s everywhere in the police federation.

I truly believe gatekeepers like Donna Jones and Kate Gunson have positions in policing to defend their Chiefs of Police. In Hampshire Police, Donna Jones must have the love bug about that piece of shit who took the coward’s way out. We will have eyes on Donna’s thoughts in what she intends to do with Scott Chilton. After reading our story you may think differently.

I lived with Mark in Carpathia the west end of Southampton for 20 years. It didn’t take long to build friendships, as Mark and myself were friendly with many in our village. We knew the Hughes family, our neighbours, very well in 2004, when their children were young. We had them in our home, as we couldn’t stand the fighting from Alison Hughes and her husband Dylan. We were always around their house, telling them to stop it or we would call the police. We would put Disney films on for the kids to make them feel safe.

Mark and I had different thoughts of how it made us both feel, hearing the language from the parents. We would take the kids back when it was quiet - Dylan hated us standing up for Alison Hughes, but who wouldn’t when she’s crying her heart out to us the next day, sometimes with marks on her face? She never did anything about it; it got to us as she would be banging on our door, slagging him off, and when she brought us up in their fights.

Two years later we all fell out, police were called, and this was the first time we met PC Jason Steel. A friendly man, but next door were getting the local lads to throw eggs at our windows. Alison Hughes and the grown-up daughter Charlotte were doing what they are good at: lying about us to strangers in the front of our home for us to see. Most would see through it, but the strange thing was PC Steel was doing nothing to help us. In the end, we complained about the lack of help from him, so then an inspector came to our home.

The inspector agreed that PC Steel was slow to respond, to the many bricks being thrown at our windows, to us running after the bastards, all the doing of the Hughes’. The whole thing died down and we didn’t speak to them for years. The kids grew up (and they always were friendly towards us). We started to speak to Alison Hughes and it was all forgotten.

Alison has been in rehab three times for drug addiction, but would come out within weeks, back on whatever she takes. I was getting quite upset with the lies she wanted me to tell to help hide her addiction from her husband. In the end, she was spiking Dylan so she could spend more time out the house. The fights got bad again - she used to blame Dylan for finding drugs on her. Blame the gays: she lies just like her daughter Charlotte.

The whole street was scared of them - her boys would sort out the neighbours if they challenged either Alison or Dylan - but I was getting to be a right mug in 2019, as Dylan gave Alison a black eye and cuts all over her arms. We had enough and told them not to come round our home any more. Dylan got arrested later that year and was found guilty of hitting Alison; but everything changed on the 27th August 2019.

The whole Hughes family turned on us. It was a massive wake-up call for me in how aggressive they all became towards both of us; she and her lads at the front of our property, trying to pick a fight with us. We both went back into our home, only to have Ben Gibbons, another son, trying to gain access to our front door as we were trying to close it. Mark Dugan, a good friend from Carpathia Close, was at my gate watching it all happen.

Again, we called Hedgend police for help, and asked if we could have a gay police officer who would understand how we felt. When the call came, my shock was in Hedgend police’s help for gay people. PC Steel was the very one we didn’t want around us helping. He helped the Hughes family way back then, and he hated us complaining about him, so we knew it wouldn’t take long to see it was happening again - everything those lads caused, being homophobic towards us.

Mark and I asked for a gay LAGLO (Lesbian and Gay Liaison Officer) as a gay officer would see what he was up to. In the whole five years they denied us a gay LAGLO. PC Steel did nothing for us in the first serious six months, did nothing about how we were being treated - we both called 101 and 999 200 times in the first six months. It was getting so upsetting that the police didn’t care what the Hughes family was doing to us, none of the neighbours could understand why the police never came to them for evidence. Many neighbours saw all of them outside, winding us up, putting fag buts on our van. Many asked the police could they pop round as they wanted to help us both. No police called to take any statements, it just carried on for years. Complaint after complaint, appeal after appeal, every time the lads got away with everything they caused us.

In February 2021, I was in a bad way as the police were bullying Mark so many times, I didn’t want to live anymore: I knew what PC Steel was doing to us both. So I took a load of tablets, left my phone at home, walked to Hedgend motorway bridge, and ran to the railings to jump. A man came from nowhere and saved my life. I had a lady and another man stay with me, as I knew the police wanted me arrested. as by then I’d been letting a lot of them know how we had both been treated.

The bridge was closed off, with twenty police officers around me. They all knew how I felt about PC Steel, and a few kindly pulled their masks down they had on. They told me: ‘He’s gone, Michael. PC Steel has been transferred to Gosport’. Many good police officers wanted me to know this.

An ambulance turned up on the bridge to help me, but I only wanted one police officer to take me home. That was PC Sophie Ridge, who knew us both, and she took me home. Back in April 2020 she helped me when Mark went missing and I called the police. Within five minutes of calling the police an officer was at my door - but not to find out information about Mark. I soon understood why he was in my house.

For one thing he was searching everywhere for drugs. He went everywhere, opened my bird aviary, going through my bird boxes. I was so mad I said to him: ‘Mark’s not in there, he’s missing.’ He said nothing to me and carried on searching, then he pushed me out of the way to go up my stairs. I said: ‘What’s going on, who’s finding Mark?’ Later I lost four of my canaries as he had left the aviary door open.

Then, my door bell rang, so I went to the front door. This is when I met PC Ridge, she was with a male officer called PC Andy. They could see I was upset about Mark, and they calmed me down. All three of us sat on my sofa, I told them that a horrible officer was upstairs going through my belongings. PC Ridge called this officer down - he walked straight through my front room and left.

Sophie and Andy were very concerned about Mark. I said I had woken up and found he had left his half-moon chain in the kitchen. He never takes it off, I have the other half of the chain. So then, while waiting for news about where Mark had gone, I told them about the first incident on the 27th August 2019, when next door’s lads were at our gate, and how long it had taken PC Steel to get any Justice for us. I also told them about the incident when Ben Gibbons was kicking our door, witnessed by our neighbour Mark Dugan.

I then told PC Ridge about the 6th September 2019, when Mark was attacked outside our property, as I could see all of them next door on my phone (as my camera was always linked to both our phones). I was on my way home with our food shopping, and I was with my mate Mark Dugan. After seeing them all outside their house, I called Mark to get out of bed and help me with the food shopping as I didn’t won’t them starting on me. In no longer than five minutes we both arrived at the close only to see Mark in boxer shorts, no shoes, on the ground - and all of them kicking Mark in the body and head.

I couldn’t believe it. I got out of the van, asking Dylan the father what was going on. He grabbed me around the neck, and put his car key to my neck. While calling 999 to say we were being attacked I pushed Dylan away to get to Mark, and the rest of them went back indoors. I got Mark indoors, put him on the sofa, and called 999. Mark was saying his arm was hurting, blood on his arms and face, and I could see it was serious.

I waited for the police to turn up, and six of them came into our front room. One officer had to go outside as his phone was ringing; then I started to believe what Mark was saying to me, that they would arrest me - I said stop being stupid. PC Steel was aware of what these lads had caused us both from the 27th August 2019 to weeks before. But Mark was right, this officer came into our home and arrested him - I was blown away. They also arrested Dylan Hughes for assaulting me.

They all left by early evening, but I was still upset at what had happened earlier. I had to put my electric key in the outside meter, at the front of our home. While I was there I saw PC Steel arrive, and he said to me: ‘You won’t be going anywhere tonight, it’s best you stay in.’ My answer to that was: ‘I’m waiting for Mark to come back Jason. And Jason I’m not happy mate, Mark should have been protected mate. Not charged it doesn’t make sense Jason.’

I didn’t get an answer, but stayed at the front door having a fag. What I then heard from Charlotte Hughes’ mouth changed how I felt about the whole situation. She said to him: ‘Steel, I’ll see you at the hotel.’ Then Jason left.

I thought she wasn’t anything to do with what happened earlier. Why would Jason be going to the Holiday Inn, where Charlotte Hughes was staying at the time that she was homeless waiting to be re-homed as she was evicted for coke addiction? So I waited to see from my bedroom window, and saw Charlotte getting into a taxi with her mother to go to the hotel.

It’s not for me to say, but Dylan’s being held in custody as well as Mark, and both of them go to a hotel to talk to PC Steel. I hate talking like this - but every word I write is true. I could carry on about that family, as she was my best friend, and she and her boys told me all I need to know, what the real family were like when the door was closed to their home.

After telling PC Ridge about what happened, she kindly asked would I come to Hedgend police station so they could take statements from us, as I told her I had a DVD of all of them being homophobic towards us. A few minutes later she had a call from the officer who was in my home earlier, and I could hear her telling this officer what really was going on with us.

He had found Mark on another bridge in a bad way, but I was happy that he had been found. Sophie asked me if Mark and I would give statements, I said yes, and Mark arrived later while Sophie was still with me. Mark then told me this police officer had said to him: ‘Tell Michael I’m so sorry for what happened earlier.’ A week later we were both at Hedgend station as PC Ridge and PC Andy looked at the 40-plus CCTV videos of the family next door.

We were both at Hedgend station for four hours giving a lot of statements. In an email from PC Ridge she told us she had found 29 crimes committed by the Hughes family, and felt it needed to go to the CID department. That had never happened in my complaints to Hampshire Police; I’d had no contact from the CID. They kept ignoring me. Then another officer took over from PC Sophie ridge. PC Emma Roberts (PC Mark Barber’s sidekick) - and you will understand why I say that about her. Later on the connection will slot into place.

Back when Mark was arrested with Dylan Hughes, I had a phone call about Mark: he was in hospital. He was kept him in a cell until the pain got so bad they took him to hospital. He had two broken arms and was in agony from all of them kicking him all over. Mark was charged and found guilty of bullying Alison Hughes. Another lie: Mark was outside waiting for me to come back with food. I said make sure you have your phone recording, just in case anything happens. He even had our pug in his arms, but the Court didn’t want to hear the recording. The whole thing was set up. Mark was convicted in March 2020, but there was nothing about what those lads did at my gate on August 27th 2019.

The next part will be about PC Steel’s mates at Hedgend station. As PC Steel was transferred to Gosport in December 2020, I was on the motorway bridge in February 2021. Then in April that year, PC Mark Barber arrived with fresh eyes to help us: he was aware of me at the motorway bridge, but never told my doctor about it, and never knew until I had to see him for more pain relief (as my pain from cancer operation was getting out of hand).

He didn’t know about my concerns - I was very upset and he believed me. We never got any help for the mental torture that could be seen by many people who walked by our property.

The next part of this story I’ve said will be from PC Mark Barber arriving to replace PC Steel. PC Barber had the same job in Gosport Station, as the neighbourhood officer. They swapped Jobs, isn’t that a strange way of approaching us? Knowing how we felt about PC Steel, you all will understand that he didn’t come with fresh eyes: it was just to cover up for his mate that had his job in Gosport Station.

Part 2

On April 22nd, my late mother’s birthday, PC Mark Barber took over from PC Jason Steel after ongoing abuse from the Hughes family since 2020. PC Barber never wanted to talk about the past crimes of the Hughes’, and covered up what PC Steel had caused us both.

In the meantime, in April 2020 Nadia Cook from Hyde Housings’ Anti-social behaviour team secured three injunctions against the three Hughes lads, with power of arrest. She gave three very important CCTV videos of the lads and mother, with the mother exposing her breasts at us, and Josh Hughes pulling his pants down. This was while telling the neighbours that this was what they want, and knowing he has turned out to be gay himself, and Ben Gibbons telling me: ‘There aren’t any boys out here for you to see.’

Nasty dirty lying family, all three CCTV videos would be enough to evict the Hughes from their home. Under injunctions with power of arrest, the law states it’s an instant eviction. Nothing was done for us, so we complained about PC Barber. Cook from Hyde housing even secured us an 18-month suspended sentence against the Hughes family.

Before she left Hyde Housing, June 2021 was a sad day for us, as we were left with police officer Larry Jackson and Craig Kendal. Both from the anti-social behaviour team, both knew Mark and I had got to know the corrupt police - both Jackson and Kendal had us in court five times over the next year, trying to remove us. We found out that Jason Steel had done a favour for Oliver Hughes in getting him a three bedroom house from Hyde Housing.

Oliver gave his plants to his ex to look after (his ex had had his two children). She got raided and had her children taken away from her, just so that pot-head could get a three-bedroom house from Hyde. As Oliver has another child with his current girlfriend. Steff his ex-girlfriend was broken-hearted, and the kids’ grandfather can’t see his grandchildren. They won’t let him.

Can you see the favours that have been asked for from that scum from Gosport Station? PC Jason Steel, you had your own team at Hedgend Station and you went too far, thought you were clever. Look how many are involved in this slime you created Mr Steel. Did you think I would give up? Absolutely not, you played with a trashy family who have helped you stand in the light - and you hate it, stuck in Gosport; hope they all look at you for what you are, a corrupt police officer.

With Larry Jackson and Craig Kendal, you used something about me. Those skeleton papers from pre-court times, what a load of lies. Larry you got together with Jason Steel and Dylan Hughes at Hedgend police station. Made up eight pages of lies about us, the skeleton papers we read before court. It had to be a joke. Victoria Knight, Hyde Housings’ solicitor, had put in that Hampshire Police were upset with us complaining. I hope they grab you by your collar, you’re fully aware of what you have covered up.

What about the only legal aid solicitor we had, Olivia from Wiltshire Law in Basingstoke? You stopped her from putting in an appeal for us: Olivia took £5000 from Legal Aid to defend us. She did nothing, except received a back-hander from Hyde Housing and stopped our Legal Aid so we couldn’t get a solicitor in time, two days before the bailiffs turned up on 12th January 2023. That part - the eviction day - I’ll save for last hoping that by then everyone can see why we both defended our home that day.

Back to the other corrupt officer PC Mark Barber, as I had asked him if he would pick up a USB of the crimes that the Hughes family committed before he came in to replace PC Steel. In emails he told me he wouldn’t be picking up this evidence. Another cover up, and another shock came when my partner Mark received an email from PC Emma Roberts by mistake - she was talking to Mark Barber. In the email the banter was about Mark, saying: ‘That man doesn’t give up.’ We complained but got nowhere, another cover-up by Police Standards.

More corrupt wrongdoings: No. 1 Mark was chased up a tree in the woods, with a load of Hedgend police at the bottom of tree waiting for him. He called me, so I called the police on 101 and 999. They made these officers leave, then he finally came home.

No 2: Mark was in hospital. He called me after not coming home the night before, his words were: ‘Please come to the hospital. I’m being set up.’ I drove to the hospital’s main entrance to see Mark being held down in the car park by a load of staff stopping him from getting away, still in his dressing robe, naked with all of them abusing him. He found the strength to get away; by then I’d gone around the car park to come back in to the hospital. Mark came from the entrance, got in the car, and I drove home.

On the way he was so upset as he had found out Hedgend police were on their way to get him. I got home and got him out of the car - he got in bed and I needed to do something as we both knew how serious this all was. So I grabbed the USB with loads of evidence on it and proceeded to Southampton police station.

On the way I got a call from an officer, asking how Mark was. I told this lady officer he was fine but in bed and needing some sleep. To my shock she told me to come home now or they would kick in the door. I told her: ‘Try and I’ll have you in court’, and the phone went down. I had to get this USB to the station. When I got there, they couldn’t take it: it needed to be given to someone from Hedgend police station.

I came home very upset, and just a few months later we were granted a community trigger meeting. This is what the police provide if there have been a lot of crimes in a six month period against us. The 101 lady put the request in for us; finally Mark and myself could have a voice.

It was held at Eastleigh council. Melvin Hartley, the man I met before the community trigger, was putting it all together for us. It included Inspector Hubble from Hedgend station. Craig Kendal from Hyde Housing, and two good neighbours who proved how the Hughes family had been total bullies in the street in Carpathia Close. All was set for 27th September 2022, four months before eviction day. The final piece of this story is the most hurtful - any man that can do what those corrupt officers did to us both. 12th January 2023 and the eight months after were corruption without doubt.

We went to court for the third time about the first incident of next door trying to get into our property on 27th August 2019, but COVID pushed it back to March 2021. We got there as witnesses, and my neighbour was with us. The lads were charged with a Section 4 offence, but we read our statements before going in to court. They had been changed, we didn’t say anything like that which we read; we told the usher they were making Mark look like a bully. He told the judge and it was stopped that day, but we were then waiting for a new date.

On eviction day PC John Simpson stole our security camera - we have him on CCTV taking it - with all these police in our home, Mark was in the loft. He could hear them lifting mattresses and looking everywhere.

In September that year the case was thrown out of court, as it was clear that the 6th September 2019 fight outside with Mark should have been protected, the 27th August 2019 had to be removed - and we had to pay for it.

As told to False Allegations Watch by Michael Rooke

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