MAGISTRATES have ordered that a rented house on Bevanlee Road, South Bank, be closed for three months and the tenants evicted after hearing reports of fights with ‘zombie’ knives, drug dealing and stolen goods.
The court was told that some of the incidents occurred in the wider area – not just the property – but that closing this house would, “have a huge impact on the overall dynamics of the road.”
The application for the house closure was made to the court by Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council with support from Cleveland Police and landlords of the property, Beyond Housing.
A report handed to the magistrates by the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team explained that the authority had first been made aware of problems at the property in January 2021. At that time the couple living in the property, aged 50 and 47, were arrested for alleged drugs offences and there had been reports of violence.
Since then, the Council has recorded more than 15 intelligence reports of incidents in and near to the property. Some involved reports of stolen fuel and false reports being made to the police. Other reports included allegations of a fight in the street involving machetes and ‘zombie’ (machete-type) knives being kept for the couple.
On another occasion the council received a report of a child thought to be about six years old driving an off-road motorcycle alone.
The report to the court said: “Sadly, there are several elderly, children and law-abiding citizens who are victim to witnessing living in amongst people who use serious violence and weapons in their day to day lives.”
Cllr Adam Brook, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, said: “We will do what it takes to protect decent, law-abiding people in their own homes and own streets and that includes going to court if necessary. I’d like to thank everyone involved in taking this action to protect people in this community.”
Inspector Zoe Kelsey from Greater Eston Neighbourhood Policing Tea stated: “Law abiding residents in South Bank are sick and tired of witnessing serious violence, anti-social behaviour and drug dealing activity on their streets. No one should live in fear of violence or be too frightened to leave their home. Redcar and Cleveland Council, Beyond Housing and Cleveland Police will continue to work together to target the households who feel that they can disregard the law and do what they want. Headteachers of schools in South Bank have reported that the violence that has occurred in this street has caused fear and harm to school children within Bevanlee Road and the surrounding area. I will not have any ‘No-go’ areas within my district and we will continue to act on information and take any action necessary to make South Bank a safe place to live in.”