Insel affe
HellBilly
Being a parent of a child that goes to Fairlight's School I am slightly worried, and myself have seen dealing and people high whilst collecting my child from after school club and seen young men with ashed faced young girls going into Preston & Brighton Graveyard on Hartington Road.
Do you think drugs are getting worse in Brighton ?
Having lived in London, Camden included I having seen it all, the deals, where they hide the drugs under tyres, in between bricks after they have dug out the cement etc. However I moved away from Camden when we had the little one, and thought let's go home she will be "safer" there away from the gangs etc....
I am not naive enough to think it will not touch her life ever, it probably will in some way, but it will never be on the scale of London but will it ?
What do you think ? Are you worried ?
RESIDENTS have called for help about the blight of drugs on their doorsteps after detectives singled out their roads as the worst in Brighton for dealing.
Detective Sergeant Julian Deans singled out Franklin Road, Hastings Road, Wellington Road as virtual no-go areas because of the high levels of drug dealing.
He said: “You go into these streets and 90 per cent of people living there are decent honest people. But drug dealers are coming and going 24/7. Drug users are shooting up in the stairwells.
“The days of heroin addicts committing burglaries and car crimes to fund their habits are far from gone.
“They still need to fund their habits through crime and the people living nearby are intimidated.”
Residents living in the streets said they saw heroin addicts waiting for dealers on the street every single day.
They see dealers drive up in black cars and on motorbikes to do deals with people in the area.
One woman reportedly had addicts “racking up” drugs on her window ledge. Others have had to call ambulances for users suffering from overdoses.
The news comes after The Argus exclusively revealed that schoolchildren as young as 12 are being used by drugs gangs to sell heroin and crack cocaine in Brighton and Hove.
Detectives who have arrested 50 dealers operating in the city said they were aware of gangs approaching youngsters with no criminal background and offering them hundreds of pounds to sell Class A drugs.
Det Sgt Deans is in charge of investigating every drugs death in the city and is leading the police campaign.
Officers have arrested 1,000 drug dealers in 10 years.
He said: “Ten years ago you used to get congregations of addicts with a herd mentality going on what we used to call the druggie march to get their fixes.
“That doesn’t happen so much because it would attract a lot of attention but you certainly see visits to certain places.”
Residents in the triangle of streets just off Lewes Road were too terrified to have their names published but told of their daily encounters with drug dealing.
A mother of two young girls said: “I see them outside our house doing deals. No one has ever said anything to us but it is upsetting. I don’t really want the kids to see that.”
One man who lives in Franklin Road said that he regularly phoned the police over dealing outside his home.
An elderly woman in Hastings Road said: “The last six month of so you have started to see them a lot more.
“They are always hanging around the corner. “My friend has had them racking up their drugs on her window sills.”
THE rows of pastel coloured Victorian terraces are picture-postcard Brighton
The quaint bow windowed three storey homes look on to the playground of Fairlight Primary look sit opposite.
As children can be heard laughing in the playground, a middle-aged women walks up and down the streets nearby with little apparent purpose. She shuffles along the pavement sucking on the butt of a well-worn roll-up cigarette before a car pulls up.
She climbs into the back seat. Not a minute later she gets out again and the car pulls away.
Scenes of daytime drug dealing like this are so commonplace neither the postman making deliveries nor builders working on a house nearby bat an eyelid.
The drug abuse in Franklin Road is so prevalent that two students discuss between themselves, “Do the junkies bother us?”
“Not really, but we did have to call an ambulance for someone who was having an overdose.”
One burly Franklin Road resident said he was not surprised that his road had been identified by police as a hot-spot.
“They don’t scare me,” he said, but still declined to have his name published.
“Because I’m not intimidated by junkies, but I know it scares a lot of my neighbours.
“You see them going up and down the street trying the handles of all the cars.
“It’s been getting worse the last few months.
“I do want to see it cracked down on. I had to call the police again just last night. You see them hanging around on the street corner. Every single day and even in the middle of the day.
“You see the same car and another guy turn up and deal drugs.
“They sell to the younger ones – the students.
“This used to be a family area. Now it’s mostly HMOs.
“People in Brighton used to buy heroin at The Level and they don’t do that anymore because it’s all covered in CCTV. So they come out here where its a bit quieter.”
Franklin Road – leading off Lewes Road is less busy than Elm Grove, Hartington Road and Bear Road – perhaps because it does not reach all the way up to the racecourse. Its lack of rat run traffic probably makes it ideal drug dealing territory.
Hastings Road is an even quieter no through road.
Some of the houses look slightly scruffy – recycling boxes overflow with takeaway boxes and beer cans.
In the middle of the day some of the windows do not look like their curtains have been opened for months. But the kerb appeal is no worse than many other parts of Hanover and merely looks like a few students live in the street.
On first glance it does not look like a no-go area or a hotbed of drugs. Detective Sergeant Julian Deans must be mistaken when he singled these roads out as problematic, you might think.
But ten minutes in the area reveals its true nature is not too well hidden. People waiting on corners with no apparent purpose. Others sitting in cars talking on phones.
Wellington Road has a longer standing reputation as a hotspot for drugs.
It is less typical of the terraced Hanover streets surrounding with several larger blocks of social housing on both sides.
One pensioner living in one of the blocks said: “I see the druggies hanging around. I wait until they have passed before I go out.
“I don’t really know if I’m scared.
“I know these people have problems but I don’t really want to deal with it.”
A student living in Franklin Road added: “We only moved in in September.
“It doesn’t really bother us but there is a lot of drugs.”
Former councillor Bill Randall said: “Certainly when I was councillor there were problems in Franklin Road.
“It is awful to hear about this sort of escalation and children being used to deal drugs.”
Det Sgt Deans spoke out to identify streets blighted by drugs gangs visiting as he told of gangs recruiting children as young as 12 to work as drugs runners.
Despite recent operations to target drug gangs Det Sgt Deans said there were still “so many drugs out there”. The gangs target vulnerable addicts and youngsters, he said, take over their homes and use them to run drugs around the city while the ringleaders are holed up safely somewhere else, believed to most likely be in South London.
POLICE crime statistics show a steady stream of low-level crimes in the streets around Franklin Road, Hastings Road and Wellington Road.
In the past year there have been 129 crimes reported in the area.
While only nine of those were for drugs offences the crime data shows the knock-on effect of drugs on communities.
Car crimes and burglaries are the typical way for drug addicts to fund their habit, but in desperation addicts will also turn to more violent crimes.
Worryingly, in the last year there were 21 violent or sexual offences in this very small area.
In total, 20 crimes were committed in the worst month – August.
In response to residents’ fears inspector Brian McCarthy said: “We are aware of a number of hotspots for drug offences throughout the city.
“We monitor calls and reports from the public and partners concerning drug use in the city and target the areas appropriately. I would urge people to contact us with their concerns in order that we can build the bigger picture to assist in targeting drug dealing wherever it may be occurring.”
In October, figures showed teenagers have been caught trying to sell class A drugs in the city with children as young as 11 caught with them in their possession.
Figures obtained by The Argus showed 20 children under 16 had been arrested by Sussex Police for possession with intent to supply class A drugs since 2012 including eight in Brighton with a further 25 youngsters arrested for possession.
Another 34 youngsters were picked up for dealing class B drugs and 216 for possession.
Do you think drugs are getting worse in Brighton ?
Having lived in London, Camden included I having seen it all, the deals, where they hide the drugs under tyres, in between bricks after they have dug out the cement etc. However I moved away from Camden when we had the little one, and thought let's go home she will be "safer" there away from the gangs etc....
I am not naive enough to think it will not touch her life ever, it probably will in some way, but it will never be on the scale of London but will it ?
What do you think ? Are you worried ?
RESIDENTS have called for help about the blight of drugs on their doorsteps after detectives singled out their roads as the worst in Brighton for dealing.
Detective Sergeant Julian Deans singled out Franklin Road, Hastings Road, Wellington Road as virtual no-go areas because of the high levels of drug dealing.
He said: “You go into these streets and 90 per cent of people living there are decent honest people. But drug dealers are coming and going 24/7. Drug users are shooting up in the stairwells.
“The days of heroin addicts committing burglaries and car crimes to fund their habits are far from gone.
“They still need to fund their habits through crime and the people living nearby are intimidated.”
Residents living in the streets said they saw heroin addicts waiting for dealers on the street every single day.
They see dealers drive up in black cars and on motorbikes to do deals with people in the area.
One woman reportedly had addicts “racking up” drugs on her window ledge. Others have had to call ambulances for users suffering from overdoses.
The news comes after The Argus exclusively revealed that schoolchildren as young as 12 are being used by drugs gangs to sell heroin and crack cocaine in Brighton and Hove.
Detectives who have arrested 50 dealers operating in the city said they were aware of gangs approaching youngsters with no criminal background and offering them hundreds of pounds to sell Class A drugs.
Det Sgt Deans is in charge of investigating every drugs death in the city and is leading the police campaign.
Officers have arrested 1,000 drug dealers in 10 years.
He said: “Ten years ago you used to get congregations of addicts with a herd mentality going on what we used to call the druggie march to get their fixes.
“That doesn’t happen so much because it would attract a lot of attention but you certainly see visits to certain places.”
Residents in the triangle of streets just off Lewes Road were too terrified to have their names published but told of their daily encounters with drug dealing.
A mother of two young girls said: “I see them outside our house doing deals. No one has ever said anything to us but it is upsetting. I don’t really want the kids to see that.”
One man who lives in Franklin Road said that he regularly phoned the police over dealing outside his home.
An elderly woman in Hastings Road said: “The last six month of so you have started to see them a lot more.
“They are always hanging around the corner. “My friend has had them racking up their drugs on her window sills.”
THE rows of pastel coloured Victorian terraces are picture-postcard Brighton
The quaint bow windowed three storey homes look on to the playground of Fairlight Primary look sit opposite.
As children can be heard laughing in the playground, a middle-aged women walks up and down the streets nearby with little apparent purpose. She shuffles along the pavement sucking on the butt of a well-worn roll-up cigarette before a car pulls up.
She climbs into the back seat. Not a minute later she gets out again and the car pulls away.
Scenes of daytime drug dealing like this are so commonplace neither the postman making deliveries nor builders working on a house nearby bat an eyelid.
The drug abuse in Franklin Road is so prevalent that two students discuss between themselves, “Do the junkies bother us?”
“Not really, but we did have to call an ambulance for someone who was having an overdose.”
One burly Franklin Road resident said he was not surprised that his road had been identified by police as a hot-spot.
“They don’t scare me,” he said, but still declined to have his name published.
“Because I’m not intimidated by junkies, but I know it scares a lot of my neighbours.
“You see them going up and down the street trying the handles of all the cars.
“It’s been getting worse the last few months.
“I do want to see it cracked down on. I had to call the police again just last night. You see them hanging around on the street corner. Every single day and even in the middle of the day.
“You see the same car and another guy turn up and deal drugs.
“They sell to the younger ones – the students.
“This used to be a family area. Now it’s mostly HMOs.
“People in Brighton used to buy heroin at The Level and they don’t do that anymore because it’s all covered in CCTV. So they come out here where its a bit quieter.”
Franklin Road – leading off Lewes Road is less busy than Elm Grove, Hartington Road and Bear Road – perhaps because it does not reach all the way up to the racecourse. Its lack of rat run traffic probably makes it ideal drug dealing territory.
Hastings Road is an even quieter no through road.
Some of the houses look slightly scruffy – recycling boxes overflow with takeaway boxes and beer cans.
In the middle of the day some of the windows do not look like their curtains have been opened for months. But the kerb appeal is no worse than many other parts of Hanover and merely looks like a few students live in the street.
On first glance it does not look like a no-go area or a hotbed of drugs. Detective Sergeant Julian Deans must be mistaken when he singled these roads out as problematic, you might think.
But ten minutes in the area reveals its true nature is not too well hidden. People waiting on corners with no apparent purpose. Others sitting in cars talking on phones.
Wellington Road has a longer standing reputation as a hotspot for drugs.
It is less typical of the terraced Hanover streets surrounding with several larger blocks of social housing on both sides.
One pensioner living in one of the blocks said: “I see the druggies hanging around. I wait until they have passed before I go out.
“I don’t really know if I’m scared.
“I know these people have problems but I don’t really want to deal with it.”
A student living in Franklin Road added: “We only moved in in September.
“It doesn’t really bother us but there is a lot of drugs.”
Former councillor Bill Randall said: “Certainly when I was councillor there were problems in Franklin Road.
“It is awful to hear about this sort of escalation and children being used to deal drugs.”
Det Sgt Deans spoke out to identify streets blighted by drugs gangs visiting as he told of gangs recruiting children as young as 12 to work as drugs runners.
Despite recent operations to target drug gangs Det Sgt Deans said there were still “so many drugs out there”. The gangs target vulnerable addicts and youngsters, he said, take over their homes and use them to run drugs around the city while the ringleaders are holed up safely somewhere else, believed to most likely be in South London.
POLICE crime statistics show a steady stream of low-level crimes in the streets around Franklin Road, Hastings Road and Wellington Road.
In the past year there have been 129 crimes reported in the area.
While only nine of those were for drugs offences the crime data shows the knock-on effect of drugs on communities.
Car crimes and burglaries are the typical way for drug addicts to fund their habit, but in desperation addicts will also turn to more violent crimes.
Worryingly, in the last year there were 21 violent or sexual offences in this very small area.
In total, 20 crimes were committed in the worst month – August.
In response to residents’ fears inspector Brian McCarthy said: “We are aware of a number of hotspots for drug offences throughout the city.
“We monitor calls and reports from the public and partners concerning drug use in the city and target the areas appropriately. I would urge people to contact us with their concerns in order that we can build the bigger picture to assist in targeting drug dealing wherever it may be occurring.”
In October, figures showed teenagers have been caught trying to sell class A drugs in the city with children as young as 11 caught with them in their possession.
Figures obtained by The Argus showed 20 children under 16 had been arrested by Sussex Police for possession with intent to supply class A drugs since 2012 including eight in Brighton with a further 25 youngsters arrested for possession.
Another 34 youngsters were picked up for dealing class B drugs and 216 for possession.
