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 William Toner |
Bullying drug addict banned from estates
Tenants slept rough when flats became crack houses
A HEROIN addict who bullied tenants out of their homes before turning them into crack houses has been banned from every council estate in Camden.
William Toner, 40, known as Billy, is forbidden from entering 25,000 council-owned properties, their underground car parks, paths and green spaces for five years after Camden Council secured an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo) against him on Monday.
Highbury Corner magistrates heard how Mr Toner preyed on tenants with mental health problems or substance addictions, befriending them, moving in, and then forcing them to sleep rough on stairwells and filling their flats with addicts. He would sleep in their beds with his girlfriend and sometimes take their money or benefits.
His activities were finally caught on film when council officials installed covert CCTV cameras on the stairwell of Bucklebury block on Regent’s Park estate.
PC Rhos Cox said a tenant, Peter Cragg, was twice found sleeping on the floor outside his flat. Officers found Mr Toner inside the flat, which was strewn with syringes, ashtrays, razor blades and other drug paraphernalia. A replica gun was found under Mr Toner’s pillow.
Julian Coutts, of the council’s anti-social behaviour team, said Mr Toner had been associated with properties that had either become a crack house or where tenants had had to be rehoused.
Former street crime warden Darren Salmon said Mr Toner had previously targeted a woman known only as Christine.
Mr Salmon said: “Christine was in a secure house and had mental health problems. She was forced to leave because Toner came in and used it for illegal drugs.”
Residents’ champion Silla Carron, of Clarence Way Estate in Camden Town, said Mr Toner would often use stairwells to sleep, urinate and take drugs in, once dropping his trousers in front of a mother and her children.
Defending Mr Toner, who did not appear in court, Mark Jones called on the council to introduce ‘shooting galleries’, where addicts can legally inject heroin without being arrested. He said that, before resorting to an Asbo, which would prevent Mr Toner reaching support services, the council should have considered introducing such rooms. |
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