'I'm a victim of cuckooing - I'm ashamed, my Thornton Heath home wasn't mine anymore'

Yahoo

a day ago

'I felt like it wasn't my home anymore. It was awful. I felt ashamed that I let the situation happen... I'm a grown man,' Richard said, talking to me in his small flat in Thornton Heath.
Richard, whose real name we aren't using for his safety, was a victim of cuckooing, where criminals take over a vulnerable person's home to deal, store or take drugs.
Richard's vulnerability due to his mental health – he said he 'hears voices' - was exploited by a group of people who used his home as a drug den.
'It started when they knocked on my door. They were homeless, or so they said, so I let them stay for a little bit but they started to take over. I didn't say anything - I thought they would just leave eventually... out of politeness - but they started inviting their friends over and would stay for nights at a time,' Richard said.
'They used to sit outside the front door smoking. The neighbours blamed me. I felt so embarrassed. I eventually asked them to leave. They wouldn't. It got confrontational and we had a few scuffles.'
The group came and went from Richard's home as if it belonged to them for over a year but Richard is hopeful that's now over following a police intervention.
Chief Inspector James Weston, whose team were called to Richard's flat on June 29, said: 'We found three drug users inside along with a zombie knife.
'Two of them were on his sofa and one was on the bed next to it, so Richard didn't even have anywhere to sit. These criminals completely take over the home.'
Richard said the group have returned since the police visit but he stood firm and turned them away.
But with Thornton Heath and surrounding areas being a hot spot for county lines operations, many other vulnerable people have found themselves in the same position as Richard.
I joined Met Police and Croydon Council officers on Tuesday, August 5, as they made visits to addresses which have been cuckooed in the past with the aim of safeguarding the victims and building intel to target the perpetrators.
It took us to the home of a man in his late 60s – we'll call him Andy rather than his real name - who was very vulnerable because of a brain injury.
Just days before our visit, officers attended Andy's home following a call about his welfare from a concerned neighbour.
When police knocked on his door a man jumped out of the window and ran away, officers then found two zombie knives at the scene.
On returning to Andy's address a few days later, we saw evidence that his living room had been taken over by drug dealers.
A large amount of white powder – most likely a cutting agent to mix with drugs – was found alongside other drug paraphernalia and a broken knuckle duster.
A knuckle duster found in Andy's home (Image: Newsquest) The lightbulb was removed from the living room, which officers believed may have been an attempt by the drug dealers to make the room unusable for Andy – who said 'I don't sit in the living room, I just sit in my bedroom.'
Sergeant George Bartlett said: 'He's a prisoner in his own home, and he's not the only one.'
Cuckooing victims are frequently subjected to threats or actual violence and abuse to keep them compliant.
Often the victims are substance abusers, but people with disabilities are also seen as fair game for these criminals.
In Andy and Richard's cases the police have been able to put a stop to the abuse before it escalated any further, but in September of last year a woman in north London a suspected cuckooing victim jumped to her death from her balcony.
Sergeant Bartlett said local officers team are committed to stamping out cuckooing in the Croydon.
'If we can work together – local officers, the local authority, county lines, Project Adder (addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement and recovery) - we can help,' he said.