Crack down on dealers

22 January 2004

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has made legal history in the ongoing battle against crack cocaine.

Georgette Williams, 44, Brian Ellis, 43, and Theresa Chase, 37, were all sentenced to six months in prison after being found guilty at the Royal Courts of Justice of breaching an Exclusion Order banning them from a large part of the borough. The order, the first of its kind, provides a quick and flexible method of dealing with the difficult and persistent problems associated with crack cocaine.

Using Section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council gained exclusion orders banning five notorious crack dealers from areas where they were known to trade. The five have already been proven guilty of breaching the order, but only three turned up in court to receive a sentence.

Their conviction sets a precedent which can now effectively tackle serious public nuisance. Local authorities around the country have been monitoring the case for some months and are now likely to adopt this technique to tackle their own anti-social behaviour problems.

A Bench Warrant has been issued for the arrest of Joanne Dowling, 30, and Frankie Charles, 43, who were found guilty of breaching the exclusion order in their absence. Frankie Charles failed to attend the court and Joanne Dowling who arrived in court very late left again part way through the hearing.

The sentence sends a powerful message to drug dealers both locally and nationally.

The presiding Judge, Mr Justice Morland, said: "This case has caused me considerable difficulty. The existence of crack houses and the people who resort to them cause extreme public nuisance."

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Merrick Cockell said: "These criminals may have thought that we were joking when we said we would clear our community of crack houses and those involved in running them. They have now learnt that we will use the law effectively and persistently. The Courts have not allowed them to flout earlier judgements. The community of North Kensington are grateful to the Police, the Tenant Management Organisation, the Courts and our legal team for the strong action that has led to this judgement. A clear message has been given to these criminals and others involved in drug dealing."

The Home Office has been liaising with the Royal Borough about this case and as a result have created Section 91 in the recent Anti-Social Behaviour Act. Section 91 now empowers a local authority using Section 222 of the Local Government Act to seek an order of the court attaching a power of arrest to an injunction. A power of arrest will give the police the power to arrest a person for breaching an exclusion order. This new police power will prevent a series of time wasting committal hearings from taking place, which has been a particular problem for this ground breaking case.

This case forms part of an extensive operation to rid the Royal Borough of the menace of crack cocaine. The Royal Borough was previously identified by the Home Office on a list of '20 Areas Affected by Crack Cocaine'.

The Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), the arms length organisation that manages the council's housing stock, through working closely with the police, has managed to close down every crack house located in the Royal Borough's public housing.

Juliet Rawlings, the Chair of the TMO said: "I'm proud of the work we have done. Crack ruins the lives of so many people and whole estates can be devastated as soon as one crack den opens. I'm glad to say that we have been free of crack dens since April 2003."

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