The residents who fear for their town
ASHINGTON RESIDENTS AFRAID TO LEAVE HOME AFTER DARK
IT was once a thriving pit community, with plenty to be proud of.
But people living in Ashington say they fear for their town’s future.
The Northumberland town which was the birthplace of football legends Jackie Milburn and the Charlton brothers, also boasts a proud mining heritage.
But after seeing the traditional industries that once provided work close and crime and drug use rise locals feel Ashington is on a sad decline.
Today, people living in the town have told how they are sometimes scared to go out after dark, and violence around Ashington’s pubs puts them off planning a night out.
Meanwhile, parents are concerned about drug use among younger teenagers and worry that there is nothing safe for their kids to do at night.
The town has made headlines for all the wrong reasons a number of times over recent months.
Stabbings, robberies, sex attacks and armed stand-offs are among the Ashington incidents to have found their way on to our pages over recent months.
In November we told how pervert David Robson was jailed and banned from a number of parks in the town after targeting a string of women, including a pensioner, and exposing himself. The 23-year-old, of Rose Hill Way, Blakelaw, who also used violence on some victims, carried out all of the offences within two hours on August 18.
He was jailed for 15 months after admitting a number of offences, including sexual assault and exposure.
The court heard he had been battling drink and drug problems.
And terrifyingly, in 2017 a woman was subjected to a horrifying ordeal when a teen sex predator climbed into her flat through an upstairs window and raped her.
Jordan Joe Robson, who was just 16 at the time, pleaded guilty to rape at Newcastle Crown Court and was locked up for five-and-a-half years.
Grandmother Anne Graham has lived in Ashington all her life, but has seen the town she once loved slide over recent years. The 60-yearold, who works at Asda, describes parts of the town as “horrendous”.
“The houses aren’t up to scratch for a start,” she said. “I think it’s just because people haven’t got the money and the area has just been dragged down. And the drugs are horrendous.”
Coun Kenneth Parry, who represents the Hirst Ward on Northumberland County Council, said he was concerned about drug-taking among young people in his area.
“The police have been talking to us about it,” he explained. “They have been telling me about kids going in to parks at night times.
“It has got worse in the last couple of years. I think there’s more drugs available now. I see kids flying round on bicycles and they are dealing them.”
“Local people have mentioned it to me. They do worry because it is there in the parks when there’s younger kids around.”
Mum-of-two Anne says there was a time when people from Ashington would worry about going for a night out in Newcastle, but now she would not want to drink in her hometown’s pubs.
“I don’t drink here anymore,” she said. “There’s always fighting on the streets.
“I think a lot of kids think if you haven’t had a fight by the end of the night you haven’t had a night out. At New Year my two cousins were jumped on by 20 kids for no reason whatsoever.
“I just think the kids have got nothing else to do.”
So what do the crime figures tell us?
Latest crime figures reveal there were 461 crimes reported in the Ashington area in December 2018. The majority of these, 103, took place in the area around Hawthorn Road.
And, frighteningly, violent and sexual crimes account for more than a quarter of the reported offences in and around Ashington.
The 461 crimes include:
■ Violence and sexual offences 146
■ Criminal damage and arson 78
■ Anti-social behaviour 69
■ Public order 57
■ Theft 35
This was down from the previous month, November 2018, when there were 518 reported crimes, including 165 violent or sexual offences. And crime peaked last year in August when there were 663 offences, including 186 of a violent or sexual nature.
A MUM’S VIEW:
Friends Abby Anderson and Nadine Clark both have two children and both have real concerns about the area in which they are bringing-up their kids.
Abby said she does not like going out after 5pm herself, and she worries about the day her daughter wants to play out alone.
“It’s scary,” she said. “I don’t like going out after 5pm. If I’m at work and taking my kids to my mam’s I get a taxi. When I was younger I would always walk around at night, now I don’t answer the door after 5pm.
“My daughter is nine and she’s asking when she can play out, but she will be staying in the house until she’s 18 if I get my way. I’m 30 and I don’t like going out. You see gangs of kids hanging around and you do feel threatened.”
Nadine, 35, said: “I have got a teenage daughter and all she does is hang around McDonald’s at night because there’s nowhere else to go.”
LIFE AS AN ASHINGTON TEEN:
Alex Curtis is 16 and grew up in the Hirst area of Ashington. When he is not studying at college he is working at Morrisons in Morpeth, or working out at the gym.
But Alex is all too aware that the lives of many local teens have sadly taken a different course.
He says drug-taking is rife in the town’s parks, and the age at which youths start dabbling is getting younger.
“Drugs is on the rise. Teenagers my age and even younger are using drugs. It’s ecstasy mainly and cocaine, but probably even heroin,” he said. “When I was younger there was nothing like that. I think I have been lucky and just missed out on it because of my age. If I had been two years younger I might have got caught up in it.
“Times are changing though. Kids are growing up on their phones.”
Anne Graham believes unemployment is a key factor in Ashington’s declined.
She said: “I think since the pits closed and Alcan there’s no jobs so people are drinking and taking drugs.”
And Alex also says lack of opportunities for young people is a serious problem.
He said: “I don’t go out in the town centre, and I don’t think there’s enough to do for young people, so you basically end up with a lot people in McDonald’s. That’s where a lot of kids hang out.
“I’m 16 myself, I come into the town for college and for the gym. I have just left high school. “Abby blames drug use. She said: “There’s never been anything to do here for kids, but the population here has changed, and drugs have a lot to do with it.
Leanne Hall, who is originally from Inverness in Scotland, recently moved to Ashington with her partner, who is from Northumberland. She believes the town needs some investment. The 41-year-old said: “I have only lived here for about a year. I do think the town is a bit rundown. It needs something to bring people in. It just seems a bit stale.
“I do feel safe around here though, but I have not been out in Ashington at night yet.”
Leanne does, however, believe that Ashington has a bad reputation among locals.
“My partner hates Ashington,” she added. “He’s from Morpeth and he doesn’t like it.”
Kev Waring, Northumbria Police’s Neighbourhood Inspector for Ashington, says officers are working hard to tackle the town’s drugs problem. And the local community is helping. Drug-taking and dealing is a problem across the country, it’s not just Ashington that has a problem, it spreads everywhere.
“Addressing this is at the very top of what we do.
“One of the most positive things we see in Ashington is a really good network in the community, good information sharing with the community, and my message to people in Ashington would be to keep that information coming in.
“If you know something is going on, please tell us. As a result of information that has come from the community we have recently successfully executed a number of warrants, and we’ll keep people informed as those come through the courts.”
And Insp Waring said a small number of people are responsible for much of Ashington’s crime problems.
“Ashington is actually a lovely place to work as a police officer: the community is brilliant, we have a good relationship with the town council, with the MP. It’s the kind of place you’ll be offered a cup of tea wherever you go,” he added.
“It’s a small number of people who are causing the problems and with the information we have we are confident we know who they are.
“I also know there’s a very close community in Ashington, so if there are problems people are talking about them in a way you don’t get in the bigger, urban areas.”