BLOOMSBURY DRUG PEST BANNED

15/02/06

A drug-user who preyed on a schizophrenic tenant and ruined the quality of life for Bloomsbury residents has been banned from harassing people in the area.

Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court granted an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) against Simone Holder on Thursday 9 February 2006, after hearing evidence of drug-fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour. Camden Council and Camden Police applied for the order to protect residents after offers of help and criminal sanctions did not change her behaviour.

Evidence presented to the court showed a string of offences and anti-social behaviour in May and June 2005. She continued to come to police attention after the ASBO papers were served until the date of the hearing.

Evidence showed that on 20 June, 36-year-old Holder had taken over a flat in Bloomsbury Street, WC1, belonging to a vulnerable tenant with schizophrenia. Police found the flat littered with drugs paraphernalia after being warned that Holder was living with the tenant against his will. On the same day, police found her arguing with two drug dealers over an alleged drugs transaction that had taken place in Endsleigh Place, WC1. She was arrested after police found she was wanted for failing to appear at court and loitering for the purpose of prostitution.

Earlier in the same month Holder was arrested for a Public Order Offence at Bury Place, WC1 outside Museum Mansions after police were called about people taking drugs. Police found drugs paraphernalia at the site and she admitted to smoking crack cocaine the night before.

On 17 June she assaulted the manager of McDonalds at High Holborn and caused criminal damage, shouting and screaming at passers-by when asked to leave the premises. She was arrested for common assault and criminal damage.

Plain-clothes police officers conducted a police check on Holder after responding to a complaint about drug users and dealers around Bedford Square on 27 June. They found there was a warrant out for her arrest and she was arrested and remanded in custody.

The ASBO bans Holder, of no fixed abode, from a zone south of the Euston Road, in and around Bloomsbury. She is also banned from causing harassment, alarm and distress to any person not of the same household as herself in the boroughs of Camden, Islington and Westminster. The order will be in place for three years.

Commenting on the case, Cllr Jake Sumner, Executive Member for Community Safety, Camden Council, said: “Drug-misuse causes great harm to both the community and the individual themselves. The ASBO is an important way of preventing this type of behaviour where offers of help, fines, arrests and even short spells in prison have not put a stop to it.

“Camden has among the highest numbers of drug users in treatment in the country and rapid access services to get the most problematic drug users into treatment as quickly as possible. However Camden Council and the police cannot allow the sort of behaviour we’ve seen in this case to be tolerated by the community and vulnerable adults.”

Chief Inspector Simon Turner from Camden Police added: "By continuing to apply for these orders to persons causing anti-social behaviour in Camden, the police, in partnership with Camden Council, are assisting to improve the quality of life for residents, businesses and communities in the Borough. At the same time, we hope that these persons seek assistance through the treatment centres available."

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