Police in Ealing have secured a Non Molestation Order against a 47-year-old man who has been physically and verbally abusing his elderly parents over a four year period.
The man came to the UK as a child with his mother and father when war broke out in Iran in 1982. He was brought up in a wealthy family and educated privately as his father ran two profitable companies in the UK and was a highly successful businessman.
He finished his education with a PHD and secured a job as an engineer.
However things turned drastically wrong for the family when the man turned to drugs after being diagnosed with a medical condition and lost his job.
He was eventually employed in the family business but this resulted in his father being forced into selling both companies.
He was given a huge amount of money from the sale of the businesses, but squandered the entire amount away over a four year period on drugs. Forced to sell his flat in north London, he spent the rest of his money on his drug habit.
The domestic abuse response team within Ealing police told getwestlondon that over the years the man subjected his parents to a daily torrent of abuse and violence if they refused to hand over money, estimated to be around £500 a week.
He would contact the bank pretending to be his father, and transfer large sums of money into his own account. He ran up huge bills in his father's name on mobile phone contracts.
His father also paid out over £8,000 to pawn shops buying back an expensive watch that his son had been given as present when he finished university.
Eventually all of the money ran out and the family ended up living off state benefits.
The family has not over the years wanted to prosecute their son and it's only with the help and support of the police and the local authority supported Domestic Abuse Reduction Team (DART) that they finally found the strength to attend court and obtain these orders.
DC Rebecca Atkins of the Domestic Abuse Response Team said: "The family has been victim of systematic physical, verbal and financial domestic abuse on 30 occasions since 2011. These were only the matters actually reported to police and we have been informed by the family that this abuse has occurred daily and that they only called police when the violence became physical and they feared for their personal safety.
"It took enormous amounts of courage to obtain these orders against their only son as both mother and father were struggling with strong parental feelings. The father eventually felt that they had to be 'cruel to be kind' in this instance in order for their son to obtain help for his drug abuse and to improve their quality of life."
Unfortunately their story is not a unique one. Many victims of domestic abuse are related to and live with their abusers. In many cases the bonds of marriage or family prove too strong for victims struggling with abuse. The thought of going down the criminal prosecution route with a spouse, parent or offspring can be a step too far for many. It is in cases like these that the non molestation and occupation orders come into their own.
A non-molestation order, as explained on the women's aid website at www.womensaid.org.uk, is aimed at preventing a family member, partner or ex-partner from using or threatening violence against you or your child, or intimidating, harassing or pestering you, in order to ensure the health, safety and well-being of yourself and your children.
An occupation order regulates who can live in the family home, and can also restrict your abuser from entering the surrounding area. If you do not feel safe continuing to live with your partner, or if you have left home because of violence, but want to return and exclude your abuser, you may want to apply for an occupation order.
Under the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act, 2004, breach of a non-molestation injunction will become a criminal offence.
Contact the Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247, (run in partnership between Women's Aid and Refuge) for information on legal options relating to domestic violence.
