Latest news with #drugissues
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
We live in ‘lawless' UK city held to ransom by shoplifters who use 999-emergency phone to order £50 drug deals
WITH its grand spires and medieval tower offering magnificent views over the city, this iconic 15th-century cathedral looks like countless other tourist magnets across the country. Now, however, only the bravest day-trippers would venture there, with locals claiming it's besieged by drug addicts who congregate on the benches and nearby steps from dusk till dawn. 8 8 8 8 The imposing Wakefield Cathedral, West Yorkshire, has become a no-go area for local residents, who have been driven away by intimidating behaviour. Mothers have to cover their children's ears because of foul language from the groups who openly drink booze and blast loud music, while locals are terrified by their aggressive begging. Drug users even order their deals via a public BT street hub, designed to allow the public to make emergency 999 calls, in earshot of shoppers. One market stall holder, who did not wish to be named, said: "They are a scourge on this beautiful city. 'They turn up in the morning, when they are quite loud, then come back at midday. After taking their drugs, they have a bit of a siesta - a lull when they are out of it. "Then they are back to being a proper nuisance around teatime. 'They use the BT hub to order their deals - you can hear them asking for £50 bags or £30 deals. 'The police seem to do nothing, even though they are always nicking from Boots, Marks and Spencer and the rest of the shops opposite the Cathedral.' Shopper Reg Milner, 75, said: "It's a terrible thing to see in Wakefield. It should not be tolerated. 'I come to the city twice a week, and I think it is disgusting what they are doing. Thief banned from every Greggs store in Britain after targeting one shop SEVEN times as cops launch crackdown 'There are kids going past and they have to hear and see what they shouldn't.' Security guard Tanvir Hasan, 25, works at Boots, just across the street from the Cathedral, where most of the antisocial behaviour takes place. 'We have a huge problem with them - they gather outside at the back of the shop in our loading bay," he said. 'I'm watching them every day." It comes after security was amped up at the city's main bus station last week to quell anti-social behaviour. Spates of vandalism together with locals reporting to have felt unsafe at the station sparked an intervention from Labour MP for Wakefield and Rothwell Simon Lightwood. It is hoped that a heavier presence of cops and station security staff will decrease levels of criminality at the station. Mr Lightwood added that disabled passengers had reportedly been unable to use the station toilets because of the severe vandalism. "Everybody should feel safe using Wakefield Bus Station," he said. "It's the gateway for people to visit our city centre, spend money in our local businesses and visit local attractions." "That includes making sure our public transport networks and transport hubs are safe for everyone to use." 8 8 8 Meanwhile, mum-of-two Sarah Murray, 34, actively avoids coming into Wakefield because of the groups. 'They make you feel very uncomfortable and they are quite scary," she said. 'It needs sorting - it puts you right off shopping here. 'They are not bothered what they say or what they do, or how they make you feel. 'This is a city centre and it should feel like a safe place.' Janet Murray, 64, who works in Poundbakery across from the Cathedral, has to deal with what she calls "horrendous" shoplifting. 'They are over there taking drugs every day, and over here stealing our goods every day. You can't touch them," she said. 'They come in and blatantly help themselves to what they want, saying, 'I'm hungry'. That is all you get out of them, and then they walk out without paying. 'You get a gob-full of abuse from them, but no money. 'There's no point calling the police, they're not going to do anything, not for a couple of packs of sandwiches. 'But, when they are stealing every day, all week, it adds up. And I'm working for my money.' 8
News.com.au
09-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
‘Lay off my sick brother': NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley lashes out at Green MP over ‘drug addiction'
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley is furious she is being quizzed over her brother's drug issues and says her difficult, private family issue is 'being weaponised' and used against her by a political foe. Ms Catley told she was outraged to receive questions from Greens MP Sue Higginson about whether she had told Police Commissioner Karen Webb of her brother's battle with drugs as she stated at the time of his arrest on March 1. 'I'm so angry, my family shouldn't have to put up with this, it's some kind of new low,' Ms Catley said. Richard Evan Hillyer, 65, was charged with a series of drug offences after a car search in Newcastle. In a statement at the time, Ms Catley said she was informed her brother had been charged and that she had disclosed her brother's issues with drugs to NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb when she became police minister. 'When I first became Minister for Police I disclosed this information to Commissioner Webb so she was fully informed of these circumstances in case it should ever become a policing issue,' she said. Ms Higginson has put a series of questions on notice to the Minister about the issue, prompting an angry Ms Catley to say: 'To use this against me is some sort of new low'. Ms Higginson asked: 'On what date did you first disclose to the NSW Police Commissioner that your brother, Richard Evan Hillyer, had illicit drug issues?' 'What was the nature of this disclosure, verbal, written, or otherwise?' and 'Was a formal record made of the disclosure within your office or the Commissioner's office?' The Greens MP said that given there was no record of such a disclosure returned under a freedom of information request, how did the Minister explain this discrepancy? 'Do you maintain that the disclosure occurred?' she continued. 'If so, will you request the Commissioner confirm whether they received it? If no formal record was made, do you accept that this may constitute a failure of basic governance?' Ms Higginson asked whether Ms Catley's office had 'taken any steps to clarify the public record or correct the administrative gap regarding this matter?' Ms Catley said she was shocked someone would 'use their position in parliament to attack' her over her brother's addiction to drugs. 'My brother is sick. He is in rehabilitation. While I have chosen to be in public life, no one in my family has. 'And while she is not attacking him directly, the fact she has put the questions in will attract attention and that's exactly why she has done it. 'My family are good people, they don't deserve this. My brother is not a bad person, he's a really good person but unfortunately he is addicted to drugs. It's horrible and he is doing something about it which is great. 'To use this information against me is weaponising it and it's hypocritical when the Member claims to represent vulnerable people.' Ms Catley said she has 'no obligation' to reveal her brother's battle with addiction, but chose to anyway. 'I would like the Member to point me where it says anywhere that you have to provide details of the health or mental health of your family members. 'I told the Commissioner of my concerns about my brother's drug addiction and that is all I knew at the time and it was my choice to do so.' The case against Hillyer is due back before Newcastle Local Court for mention on May 26. Police will allege they found an amount of cash, 8.06g of methylamphetamine and cannabis during the search of the vehicle. Ms Higginson said in a statement to that she believed there were inconsistencies between the Minister's public statements and police records regarding a disclosure about her brother. 'A member of the community provided my office with a return provided under the Government Information Public Access Act that showed no official record of a formal disclosure was made to the Commissioner by the Minister,' she said. 'Although the Minister is not required to make an official disclosure, the NSW Police Declarable Associations Policy sets out the importance of preventing perceived or actual conflicts of interest for people involved in the work of the police. 'The Greens support harm minimisation approaches to illegal substances and a health-based framework when responding to addiction. 'We also support transparency in public reporting of Executive Government and the NSW Police. After receiving reports from the community that an apparent inconsistency existed between public statements of the Minister and documents held by the Police, it is our responsibility to investigate this.' The MP is a vocal advocate for the Greens' push to legalise cannabis and, in 2024, attended the Drug Summit in Lismore, where the focus was on better early intervention for people at risk of addiction, more diversion from courts and pill testing. In 2023, she posted on Facebook: 'The main harm cannabis is causing is 80(,000) people getting dragged through the criminal justice system each year (16k to 20k people in NSW) and having their lives shattered and often destroyed'. 'As a lawyer I know the harm the cops and the criminal justice system causes people and their families,' she wrote. 'The reality is we are getting very close to decriminalising cannabis and moving to a harm minimisation system because we have more Greens in the NSW Parliament, a minority Labor Government and a community that is more than ready'. She also attended the 2024 Drug Summit where the focus was on better early intervention for people at risk of addiction, more diversion from courts and pill testing.
