Seven men involved in a long-running feud that brought fear to the streets of a Leeds community have been hit with the city’s first ‘gangbo’ injunctions.
A total of 94 offences between March 2014 and June 2016 were believed to be linked to the feud, with 87 of those occurring within roughly a square mile of Beeston - the most serious being the attempted murder of a man in a shooting in Middleton Crescent in October 2015.
The catalogue of crimes included ten violent incidents of robbery, assault and kidnap; 30 offences of public order, threats, intimidation and extortion; 24 offences of arson against vehicles and addresses causing more than £200,000 of damage; six drug-related offences where more than £180,000 was recovered; and 22 offences of criminal damage against properties, eight of which saw 4x4 vehicles rammed into the addresses causing more than £100,000 of damage.
In December 2014 and January 2015, officers from the local neighbourhood policing team launched an investigation into a number of vehicle fires in Beeston that were believed to be linked to an ongoing feud between known criminals.
After further ‘tit for tat’ incidents occurred and officers began to build up a clearer picture of the wider circumstances and those involved, the investigation passed to Leeds District Serious Organised Crime Unit to co-ordinate the response.
Specialist detectives from that team began to conduct comprehensive enquiries to develop a detailed understanding of the context of the incidents that had occurred and to link those to the main suspects.
While a number of arrests were made and charges brought in relation to some of the incidents, it became clear that a wider approach was needed to tackle the gang-related actions of those involved.
Steps were taken to build a case for gang injunctions – dubbed ‘gangbos’ - under the Policing and Crime Act 2009. The Act allows the police or local authority to apply to a county court or the High Court for a civil injunction against an individual who has been shown to be involved in gang-related violence or to have encouraged or assisted it.
The scale of the incidents concentrated in such a small area had impacted not just on police resources but on West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, who were consulted for the application along with Leeds City Council and Leeds Housing.
The Police & Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire, Mark Burns-Williamson also lent his support to the application, highlighting how the incidents had impacted on the lives of people in Beeston and on police resources.
In December last year, full injunctions were granted against the seven men at Bradford County Court.
The orders include a number of conditions that place strict limitations on the subjects and can see them arrested for any breaches.
These include a ban from exclusion zones covering the Beeston area; restrictions on who they can associate with; requirements to register their home address and personal mobile phone numbers with the police; restrictions on only driving vehicles registered and insured to them; a ban on carrying any flammable liquid and on using threatening or violent behaviour and wilfully remaining in the company of people engaging in such.
Four of those that are subject of the orders are: Shafaqat Ali, aged 34, of Cross Flatts Avenue, Beeston; Haroon Butt, aged 28, of Cross Flatts Row, Beeston; Kamran Khan, aged 24, of Park View, Beeston; and Zubair Ali, aged 25, of Cross Flatts Avenue, Beeston. Three other men cannot be named due to legal reasons as two are the subject of ongoing court proceedings and another is yet to be served with the full injunction.
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