Page 11 - 80_Michele Stmt FINAL USE THIS (20pp)

Blackmail and intimidation
43 In parallel with the events I have described above, a thoroughly unpleasant and intimidating sequence of events unfolded in the course of September and early October 2014, when Mr Brown-Constable at- tempted to intimidate me and to blackmail me - not only into paying these various additional charges myself, but into persuading the other leaseholders to pay up as well. This all started with a relatively trivial incident related to two extra keys that I had requested for my tenant in Flat 5 (Maria Stella Scarpellini) for the front door of Mitre House.
44 In order to be sure of my facts I have looked back at my previous e-mail correspondence with Mr Brown-Constable regarding this issue and the way it subsequently developed. I have quoted exten- sively from the e-mail record to show how the conversation evolved.
45 I visited Mitre House on 9 September 2014 because there was an issue which needed sorting out relat- ing to some cabling for a Sky Aerial Dish. This had been installed (without my knowledge) by my tenant Stella, and had been the subject of complaint by Mr Brown-Constable. I wanted to find out what this was all about. This was around the time the refurbishment work on the exterior of the building was just starting, and my relationship with Mr Brown-Constable was at a pretty low ebb. (It was only a few days later, on 18 September 2014, that I was dismissed as a director of MHML - see below).
46On the occasion of this visit on 9 September 2014 Mr Brown-Constable was (unusually) charming and confirmed the cabling was not an issue, something very easy to correct. At the same time he wanted to show me the paint on the lift cage (gold), new lighting etc. I could tell he needed my help or support in some way. I decided not to make any comment about his new decor, even though I did not approve of
47 it, as I needed the two keys requested by my tenant and I could sense he might be difficult.
In an e-mail he had sent me on that day (9 September 2014), Mr Brown-Constable had stated that the keys were going to be delivered on the following Thursday, (i.e. on 11 September 2014). In a subse- quent e-mail of 10 September 2014 at 10.39 he sent a positive reply to my suggestion that I should come by to pick up the keys from him, rather than him posting them.
48 However when I came to collect them on Friday 12 September at 15.30 he slammed the door in my face and refused to hand over the keys. Following this grossly rude and unprofessional behaviour I think he must have realised that he had overstepped the mark, and felt the need to justify himself in an e-mail he sent me the following day (13 September 2014) at 11.07. In that e-mail he gave an incorrect account of this incident when he said 1/1 opened my door to see you hiding around the corner". This was not true. There is no corner there to hide behind. I was standing right in front of his door. Why should I hide when I was coming as agreed to collect my keys?
49 In this same e-mail of 13 September 2014 he acknowledged that he had slammed the door on me, and wrote that: "in the present climate it would not be advisable for us to be in contact unless others are present". That is the reason why, for my own safety, I felt I had no other choice but to request a police escort to his flat when I eventually called again at Mitre House on Tuesday 30 September to try and col- lect my keys. (The reason for this long period of two weeks before getting the police involved in my sec- ond attempt to collect the keys is because my husband and I went away to Scotland on 17 September 2014 and did not return to London until 28 September 2014).
50 In this same e-mail of 13 September 2014, with reference to the conversation we had before he slammed the door in my face, he said "I did NOT refuse you a key but said I did not have a key yet". This was a lie, and he knew it. However, attached to this email was an invoice for the keys which indi- cated that the keys were "to be collected".
(comment/reply 43-50) - the Tribunal can cross examine me on these! By now I hope they will ap- preciate just what I was up against with Mrs Hillgarth. This sounds more like a woman scorned as opposed to serious allegations of Blackmail & Intimidation - all comprehensively covered in previous correspondence with supporting documents disproving her accusations.
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