Notorious crime gang taken off the streets

A COMMUNITY once in the grip of a notorious organised crime gang is returning to normality after intensive policing work has seen key criminals jailed and measures introduced to protect youngsters from being drawn into offending.

The so-called Pitsmoor Shotta Boys group, which originated in Sheffield, took a hold in Mexborough after several members were rehoused there.

The PSB, as the gang was known, were involved in drug dealing but lower level members were also involved in anti-social behaviour problems which left residents in fear.

But police say most of the gang have been jailed or are going through the criminal justice system. Officers raided more than 100 homes and recovered five guns, with anti-social behaviour said to have fallen sharply.

Chief Superintendent Shaun Morley, Doncaster’s police commander, said: “Mexborough is now back in the hands of the community, rather than the PSB. They are on the back foot. I will not rest until we have removed their criminality from the streets of Mexborough.”

Tactics have include making use of powers to stop and search suspects, something associated with inner city communities rather than former mining towns. Changes this year will see South Yorkshire Police expand numbers by 40, with almost half of those in Doncaster, with the team covering Mexborough to be doubled from eight to 16.