MP: Residents in area hit by violence deserve to feel safe
RESIDENTS in an area plagued by violence and disorder “deserve to feel safe” in their homes, an MP has said.
Kate Griffiths said funding is being made available to prevent serious violent crime, after incidents in the Uxbridge area of Burton.
Recent incidents include a man being left with a broken leg and a deep head wound in Uxbridge Street, on March 16.
Another incident involved thugs throwing fireworks into a takeaway leaving staff at Khyber Pass, in Uxbridge Street, extremely distressed as hundreds of pounds of damage was caused.
Footage was even taken by the thugs of the fireworks incident and posted on social media. It happened on November 8, last year and was described as a hate crime by police.
In another incident, a woman was jailed for harassing two vulnerable men in the Uxbridge area. A court was told Claire Broome had been harassing the men by knocking on their doors, breaching a restraining order.
The 38-year-old was later jailed for 28 weeks following an appearance at North Staffordshire Justice Centre.
Burton MP Ms Griffiths said: “The Home Secretary has announced that the Government is making significant funding available to prevent serious violent crime, including murder and knife crime, and its underlying causes, so we can deliver safe communities in Burton that local residents deserve.
“In our commitment to cut crime and make our streets safer, we will
I think the police need to be here mingling on foot, not just driving up and down.
continue to give frontline police officers the powers and resources they need to tackle the perpetrators of the serious violent crimes that blight communities.
“£23 million is being made available for new early intervention work so we can steer young people away from violence, as we recruit 20,000 more police officers over the course of this Parliament and introduce new stop and search powers, so we can build Britain back safer.”
Residents living the area say things never used to be as bad has they have been, with one saying they did not walk the streets once it got dark as she was too afraid.
A man who lives nearby said: “Only the other day we had that one in Uxbridge Street [a man attacked in the street]. I live over the front and we’ve got the main road there so it’s okay. Over on Uxbridge Street you’ve got people racing up and down in cars, drugs and alcohol.
“The whole area needs a good clean-up. I think the police need to be here mingling on foot, not just driving up and down.
“I’ve lived here eight years and it goes up and down. There’s been one or two nasty incidents like this. It needs a good clean-up and police presence. It doesn’t shock me around here. Every day someone is getting assaulted or robbed.”
Local resident