Spate of bike thefts blamed on area’s ‘drug problem’
RESIDENTS SAY CRIMES ARE CARRIED OUT BY ADDICTS TO FEED THEIR HABIT
EALING residents have blamed a spate of bike thefts on the “increasing drug problem” that they say they are experiencing on their doorsteps.
They say that they are becoming distressed by the use of drugs in their community and claim that addicts are stealing bikes in order to fund their habits.
Most recently, a local man complained that the frames and wheels were stolen from three bikes that had been taken apart and stolen from the garden of his apartment block.
The bike thefts and increased drug use were reported to be taking place around Haven Green, Ealing, which is just outside Ealing Broadway station.
One man claimed it was not an isolated incident and that drug users are often coming to the area and “buying heroin”.
He says the sale of drugs is often “blatant” when he looks out from his window.
Robey, 40, who lives with his two children in an apartment block overlooking Haven Green, Ealing, said: “The drug dealing is pretty obvious. They aren’t discreet about it because Haven Green doesn’t have cameras, so why do they need to be?
“We have had our bikes stolen, or it’s better to say dismantled because they have been destroyed. We lock up our front wheels and the back wheels are gone, as is the frame. We lock up our frame and then they take both wheels. We have heard from neighbours who are seeing [who they think] are drug users hanging round our building.
“It would make sense. Everything adds up. Drug dealing on our doorstep and drug users hanging around our apartment. It’s not a coincidence and other neighbours as well as myself believe it’s the drugs that are making people steal.”
Richard was backed up by members of the community who also believed that drug dealing and drug use was behind the increase in thefts in the area. One woman even reported seeing needles on the floor near her house – which is only five minutes walk to Haven Green.
The residents claim it is heroin being used, but this cannot be confirmed.
Bike theft was also reported as a wider problem in the Ealing borough but it was only residents living close to Haven Green that explicitly blamed drug use for this problem.
Ealing Council and the Met were both contacted for comment but they did not reply in time for publication.