Police chief hails reduction in drug-related crime on troubled Sutton estate

Inspector Craig Hall, Ashfield’s district commander, launched an operation to reduce drug dealing and violent offending on Carsic estate last August, after a serious stabbing and a number of other violent offences.

Part of Davies Avenue was cordoned off on August 22, 2019, after a man was “stabbed in the head” and attacked "with a baseball bat".

Residents expressed fears about the “gang” issues which were “blighting the estate”, connecting it to a rise in drug-related crime and calling on the police to take action.

What followed was an operation targeting drug dealers, and through support and guidance from community groups, Inspector Hall says the volume of crime has “drastically improved”.

He said: “There is a real sense that our combined efforts have helped to drastically reduce the volume of drug dealing and violent offending on the estate.

“There is however always work to be done across the town and our officers are constantly identifying opportunities to disrupt drug dealers who are responsible for violent offending.

“We have executed a number of drugs operations recently, including a very successful day in Sutton which resulted in seven suspected drug dealers being arrested and a substantial quantity of class A drugs being seized.”

But Tracey Greatorex, a Carsic estate resident who went on record at the time of the alleged stabbing to describe the gang issues, says a lot more is still to be done.

Tracey, who helps run the Carsic Estate Facebook group, said: “I'm afraid Inspector Hall still has some work to do regarding a gang on our estate.

“While he did a three month operation to get the gangs sorted, anti-social behaviour (ASB) did calm down – but since he's pulled the operation, it’s on the rise again.

“He shouldn't have made it public that he had ended the operation, as now certain individuals are committing ASB again.

“Now most of the crime committed is in the Jubilee Road area, so the problem has moved from one area of Carsic to another.”