Case study 2

AIMEE’S home was taken over by a gang after a man who she thought was a friend started inviting his pals over.

Soon things spiralled out of control and her house in Camden, North London, was being used to deal drugs.

She says: “One of them became a really good friend of mine, he was a really nice young man. But his friends started coming along and they just started taking over the house and it just got worse.

“I started having a mental breakdown, started crying all the time. I mostly just stayed in the other room and they would come in and take over the rest of the house.

“They brought friends and would be drinking and ordering food all the time and getting people to wrap up drugs. They started selling drugs and things like that from my home which I never allowed and never wanted. But I could never do anything about it and it got worse after that and they started getting worse towards me, being abusive towards me. “They’re not your friends they just want to use your home. They destroy your home, they haven’t got any respect for you.

“There was a lot of help and support there for me which I was very shocked and amazed by and I still get help and support now. I’m a lot better in myself mentally, a lot better in myself. I’m a lot stronger.

“The police and the council have just been amazing to me – I couldn’t have done it without them.

“The police are there to help and support you, and they’re not going to judge you.”

Friends of a friend took over house and began to sell drugs