POLICE are cracking down on drug addicts who have been injecting themselves in front of families in the grounds of Coventry’s Charterhouse Monastery.
Councillors from St Michael’s, where the venue is, have called on police officers to ‘stop going easy’ on the ‘brazen drug activity’ and have laid the blame at the Ministry of Justice which they say, without informing the council, has been using local buildings to house prisoners recently released from jail.
Charterhouse Drugs
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Councillors Naeem Akhtar, David Welsh and Jim O’Boyle said the MoJ’s decision had seen criminal activity in the area spiral, leaving residents feeling ‘afraid and concerned’ by the ‘blatant law breaking.’
Tomorrow (Friday) the police’s Op Speedy activities will be focused on Charterhouse Park and will include high-visibility patrols in the area.
The Charterhouse Carthusian monastery opened to the public in April following a £12million renovation.
Coun Akhtar said this ‘gem’ should not be soiled by ‘disgraceful behaviour’ and added visitors to Charterhouse and its beautiful grounds should not be subjected to this sort of criminality.
He told the Observer: “We are working hard to help improve the area but this unilateral action by the Ministry of Justice has undermined this good work.
“St Michaels is a deprived area so people who have just left prison have easier access to drugs.
“We are all for helping to rehabilitate people who have been to prison but they need the proper support and it feels like these people are just being dumped.
“These people need a safe environment so we are calling on the government to stop using HMOs in the Charterhouse area for people with these complex needs.
“People in St Michael’s deserve to feel safe and it is not acceptable this sort of behaviour goes unchallenged and unpunished- police must act now.”
Insp Simon Finney, from the St Michael’s Neighbourhood Team, said: “We are aware of the ongoing issues in and around Charterhouse Park and continue to update partners on the work we are doing.
“My neighbourhood teams are developing intelligence around drug supply, targeting the suppliers and dealers.
“This is significantly disrupting drug-related activity in the city centre to the point those dependent on drugs are complaining of a lack of supply.
“I review crime across my sector and discuss areas of concern daily with my sergeants and management team to determine if any further priorities are required or a change in direction of our tactics is necessary.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Stable housing helps ex-offenders stay on the straight and narrow which is why we provide basic, temporary accommodation for those at risk of becoming homeless on release – preventing them from falling back into a life of crime and keeping the public safe.
“All prison leavers supervised by probation staff in the community are subject to robust risk assessments and face being returned to jail if they break the rules.”
