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Camden New Journal - by PAUL KEILTHY
Published: 26 July 2007

Five families face eviction over ‘anti-social behaviour'

‘They don’t deserve to live next to decent people’ –- police sergeant

FIVE families could face eviction from a Kentish Town estate where efforts to stamp out anti-social behaviour have become a personal battle between the authorities and a close-knit group of council tenants.
The Torriano estate has seen walls in the Longmeadow block daubed with threats and abuse singling out individual police officers by name, while the authorities have responded by gathering evidence from secret CCTV cameras and launching three police raids this year.
While police squad cars have had their tyres slashed and paintwork deliberately damaged during patrols of the estate, the last two weeks have seen five arrests for criminal damage in the block’s corridors, with one man pleading guilty to a vandalism charge.
Last week, Camden council sent notices to seek possession to five families – the first step in a process that could lead to eviction.
A council statement said: “We have been gathering evidence of criminal damage and antisocial behaviour for a number of weeks. Several tenants and family members have been interviewed about their tenancies and we will be taking further action. A number of arrests have been made for criminal damage.”
Housing chief Cllr Chris Naylor added: “We will not tolerate antisocial tenants and are determined to improve the quality of life for people living on the estate and in the neighbourhood. These interventions send out a clear message that action can and will be taken.“
The council’s moves followed the community police team’s efforts to, in the words of Kentish Town Police Sgt Peter Ryan, “deliver something for the community who are terrified.
“The people who think they can do what they want on that estate do not deserve to live next to decent people.”
In the tightly-connected, tense atmosphere of the Torriano estate, opinion on the tough line taken by the authorities varies.
One Torriano tenant, who first contacted the New Journal in confidence in February to raise concerns over criminality on the estate, said fear of reprisals prevented other residents coming forward.
The resident said: “There are people here who are convinced they are being grassed up and they make it clear that they don’t like it. It is good when the police come, but every time they go away we are left with them. The security in these buildings is bad and people can come and go as they like. I am very frightened, and I know my neighbours are too.”
But police activity on the estate has been criticised by other residents. When the CNJ observed a police raid earlier this month, one tenant said: “How is it that the police act on behalf of the council because they just want our tenancies.
“They keep coming and they keep finding nothing but they don’t stop, just because one or two people on this estate don’t like us but won’t say so to our faces.”

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