Kent Police has closed down a property in Ramsgate linked to anti-social behaviour.
Officers from the Thanet Community Safety Unit applied to Margate Magistrates’ Court for a closure order for the rented flat in Addington Street, which was approved on Monday, February 7.
The order, made under Section 80 of the Anti-Social Behaviour and Policing Act 2014, was served on the property on Wednesday 9 February and will remain in place for three months. It prohibits anyone from accessing the flat during that time or they risk arrest.
Police applied for the order after residents raised concerns regarding regular anti-social behaviour in the area. Reports were received of drug dealing at the property, criminal damage, noise and alcohol-related disorder, with people coming and going from the address at all hours of the day.
Residents alleged that if they tried to challenge the behaviour, they were subjected to threats of violence, and often the incidents would spill out into the communal areas of the building.
Anti-Social Behaviour Officer PC Ben Cadge, who works in Thanet’s Community Safety Unit, said: “The tenant was described as a real nuisance neighbour, people felt intimidated trying to access their own homes and the anti-social behaviour and ongoing noise was particularly upsetting for those with children.
“The tenant had been warned previously about the impact the actions of those at the property were having on the surrounding community and was given opportunities to rectify the situation.
“However it is not acceptable for anyone to have to put up with these issues, it was clear to us that they were significant and ongoing, therefore the closure order was the most appropriate course of action.”
Residents in the street had been dealing with the issues for a number of years.
In 2020 The Isle of Thanet News reported their call for action, saying their lives were being blighted by drug dealing and antisocial behaviour related to the property.
They said complaints of overpowering heroin fumes, a string of addicts coming in and out, intimidation and suspected cuckooing of a young man who then died of a drugs overdose had not resulted in the property being shut down.
PC Cadge urged any residents who find themselves in similar situations regarding anti-social behaviour to report it to Kent Police on 101 (999 if a crime is in progress) or via the Kent Police website.
He added: “We are committed to working with Thanet District Council and other partners to tackle anti-social behaviour in the district and we ask people not to suffer in silence but report it so action can be taken.”
Cllr Becky Wing, who represents residents at district council, said: “It is really tragic that it has come to this but there was no other option given the tenant had utterly failed to respond positively to several years of warnings and support.
“I have lived in the area since 2012 and have been well aware of the serious issues of Anti-Social Behaviour the community, residents close by and other tenants have had to put up with, at all hours of the day and night.
“No one wants to see anyone lose their home but all any of us want is live peacefully and get on with our neighbours and there is a real sense of community and looking out for each other in this area and especially on Addington Street itself, which is now thriving.
“I am thankful that now, those most affected can finally have some peace and quiet, be able to go about their daily lives without fear and of course not finding used needles on the street and in the back alleys will be a bonus.
“I hope the ex-tenant will now seek help and work towards making better decisions to change their life around. Apart from this very ‘visible’ cost of illegal drugs in our communities there is a more ‘invisible’ network and system of exploitation that not only blights our communities but also the lives of those involved, most of whom are exploited due to vulnerabilities. Community policing and funding to support those with addictions needs to be drastically increased if we are ever to really get on top of this issue and how it affects so many either directly or indirectly.
“The police and landlord, Thanet District Council, really did do all they can to avoid this situation but in the end the Police had to act and they did.”
The police website to report crimes is not fit for purpose. It’s more interested in the person reporting the crime than the criminals who are committing the crimes, in the Westwood area vandals [ who are suspected to live in the new estate area] they have been smashing shop windows almost nightly yet nothing has been done to catch them. As this story above illustrates the anti social behaviour has been going on for years before the police eventually decide to do something about it.
“ask people not to suffer in silence” how long had these poor people suffered prior to The Isle of Thanet News first reported this same address in 2020? Disgusting, Kent Police and TDC should be ashamed of themselves, we ought to have a factual comment from KP and TDC as to why these situations are not jumped on immediately.
You’re having a laugh, in the St.Johns area of margate the property next to the “green shop” was a nightmare for locals for about 5 years, buidling was in a terrible state, one flat was the problem. Despite obvious Class 1 hazards under HHSRS (housing health safety rating system) the council has a statutory duty to act, but the excuse was they did not have the resources to assess the property and so couldn’t act. Other officers said “everyone has to live somewhere”.
The police were at the property mob handed at least once a week. Coupl of nasty assaults.
Only when there was an attempt to set fire to the common areas of the builsing was action taken.
So Addington street and the property in this article had relatively swift action.
FYI I complained about this property in Addington Street for 7.5 years.
Ok, then you’ve had as bad a time as those in St. Johns, i stand corrected. Were your dealings with TDC just as frustrating? Out of interest is the property run by a private landlord or social provider?
It doesn’t seem the Landlord has done anything about this anti-social behaviour 10GB! I know of 2 people being evicted from homes they have lived in for decades, without any problems, one is 89, and the other is a pensioner mother and adult son, who have shown exemplary behaviour!
There’s up to a 2 year delay with the courts.
Why have arrests not been made?
In the absence of a pretty serious assault there’s no point, the criminal justice system is not interested in antisocial behaviour and drug dealing is pretty much accepted unless the quantities are considerable AND it’s easy to prove who had possession.
good old ramsgate – the jewel in the carsey !
Give it a rest, “real world”. Go for a nice walk.
It was originally managed by East Kent Housing, but when that collapsed it was taken back under the management of TDC. EKH, TDC and the police were provided with evidence of criminal, violent and anti-social behaviour continuously over those 7.5 years, but little to no action was taken. I am delighted the nightmare is finally over and feel for anyone in the community that is currently subjected to something similar.
Thank you. One of the downsides of social housing lifetime tenancies and a culture of wanting to “help tenants with their issues”.
In addition , EKH/TDC will do nothing in relation to illegal drug use by their tenants, they say they have no way of proving the tenant uses drugs , as they can’t force the tenant to take a test and they can’t prove there is drug use on the premises as they have no power of entry for such a purpose. Police feel like they are banging their heads against a wall as they can keep on serving search warrants on a property and attending for bad behaviour but with the housing provider so disinterested in doing anything there’s little more they can do, as has been seen it takes years of misery for neighbours before anything gets done.
The private rented sector has greater ability to do so something as they have Sec21 powers of possession, this looks to be withdrawn in the future at which point private landlords will have to prove antisocial / criminal behaviour in a similar manner to housing associations, so problem buildings will be more common as and when Sec21 is repealed.
Our street has also been reporting antisocial behaviour, harassment and intimidation by a resident for over 3 years to the police but they don’t want to know at all and neither do any other authorities. They think it is all okay for us to be bullied regularly along with other insane incidents, with locks, being glued up, bottles thrown, eggs at windows, dustbins kicked over, etc, etc, all reported but without any response.
I pity the young man who was desperately seeking help from the police who was ignored, ending with his demise through forced drug taking by thugs who were living in his home. This will no doubt repeat itself unless the Kent Police Chief gets his act together and makes sure proper zero tolerance policing is forefront of officer duties. We the public are being let down.
AMAZING!?!?!? Addington Street residents are thrilled at this.
The length of time that these issues are allowed to exist is absolutely disgusting.
if ramsgate was a soap on television , no one would believe a word of it.
They now need to tackle the corner shop and the old butchers where I lived for 6 years where crack is dealt right in front of people….all say and night…I have reported it given the reg plate of the white BMW who deals the muck but still nothing done.
You should write to or contact police inspector Swallow at Margate police station, I’m told you can phone 101 and ask the call taker to pass your concerns on to him or email him. He is the person who deals with “anti social behaviour” [stupid name for crimes in the area] He will I’m told, be able to link the crimes to the area they are happening in. If you just phone 101 and report incidents without mentioning the Inspectors Swallow name they just log them and nothing happens and they are not collated. So be sure to address your concerns and information for his attention.
Nothing much will happen, the police take the view that as soon as they take one dealer off the street another will take their place and so its easier if they just know who’s doing what and leave them to it. Plus even if they do arrest in the absence of very considerable quantities of drugs being recovered / cash etc, the courts won’t detain the dealers and so they are back on the street soon after. People wonder why you get areas where people don’t want to live and areas of so called “deprivation” when the reality is often that the behaviour and actions of a minority are quite enough to blight an area and over the years leave it somewhere only yhe most desperate will live, so effectively the uk’s policy regarding drugs creates a great number of social problems.
A foi request to Kent police as part of a comnsultation response to the selective licensing in cliftonville showed that social/council housing had twice the amount of crime linked to it than self contained private sector properties, of course no one wants to hear that.
Bail hostels, childrens homes, hmo’s had 36 times the amount of linked crime . Again no one wants to hear that either as that would have negated much of the antilandLord sentiment.
Or email community.safety@thanet.gov.uk where Inspector Swallow hangs out!
I saw what you’d describe as a middle-aged respectable-looking man buy drugs from a teenager on a bike in Nelson Crescent, and then after he’s got his gear he walks back to his own place via Addington Street. Sort of person who frequents the local regeneration pop-ups etc. A lot of people from all socio-economic groups fuel this stuff … I did wonder if he had a kid the same age as who he buys his drugs from, or will have one one day …
I worked in a special team in the London Borough of Hackney that dealt with crime and disorder including the Misuse of Drugs Act. We learnt very early on that neither the Council, the Police or any other statutory agency can deal with these issues on their own. They need to work closely together as required in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Whether the Tories have repealed that I don’t know but we certainly have a Government and a Council that is “soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime”!