When I see the videos, I feel deeply shocked.

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They show me being filmed by my ex-business partner, his wife, and our secretary — three people recording me during one of my most vulnerable and stressful moments. Their behaviour was as intimidating as something out of a Scientology playbook.

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I am proud that I remained calm, managed to lock myself in a room, and even created a screen to shield myself from being filmed. In that moment, I felt like an animal being hunted. The act of filming was clearly intended to provoke a reaction.

They made no effort to de-escalate the situation or to relieve the pressure.

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All of this took place after yet another unfair accusation from Adam. I decided to use the meeting room as my personal space and office in order to remove myself from the ongoing intimidation. Naturally, this decision was not welcomed, and they tried to stop me from moving into the room.

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During the confrontation, there was some minor pushing, but not much  was broken and no one was hurt. After I locked myself inside, they continued to film me while I was crying.

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To stop the filming, I took Adam’s mobile phone and threw it into the river. I took full responsibility for that act — it was the only wrongdoing on my part. All other accusations were unfounded.

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he only reason this incident attracted police interest was because they wanted to portray me as unstable and dangerous — and because of the family’s close connections to the police.

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Sadly, the RIBA did not acknowledge how unfair this situation was. What value do workplace policies have if it is acceptable to place such immense pressure on one person?

 

Looking back, this was undoubtedly a moment that triggered symptoms similar to PTSD. It took me five years to overcome it.