Torquay police respond to Castle Circus drug issues

Torquay police have responded to the drug problem in the Castle Circus area of Torquay.

Recently, a number of people have required medical attention in the area after taking drug and collapsing.

The area of the town is well known for issues, with people often in the area drinking and openly taking drugs.

Concerns have been voiced on social media about the area – particularly Facebook page Spotted Torquay.

Posting on their Facebook page, Torquay Police said:

“We are obviously well aware of the current problems being experienced in Castle Circus. We have received reports of people clearly under the influence of drugs, sometimes collapsing on the pavement, needing medical attention. This appears mostly due to drug users taking what was a ‘legal high’ referred to as Spice, K2, Black Mamba and so on.

Amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and the introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 mean that these drugs are now illegal to manufacture supply and possess which gives us certain powers to search, seize and arrest where the grounds exist.

We are actively targeting the supply of these substances and over recent weeks, acting on intelligence provided, have executed two Misuse of Drugs Act warrants, seized a quantity of Spice and charged a 29 year old male and 25 year old female with possession with intent to supply, both are appearing at South Devon Magistrates Court tomorrow (23rd August 2017).

We have a clear picture of others who are involved in the Castle Circus problems and are actively working deal with them robustly.

48 year old Terence Birchall was recently charged with possession of an offensive weapon in Castle Circus, he appeared at Exeter Crown Court and received over seven months in prison for this incident.

52 year old John Birchall was recently charged with offences that took place in Castle Circus and on 21st August 2017 was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison.

Inspector Si Jenkinson of Torquay Police said “This is testament to the very hard work the neighbourhood policing team are putting into dealing with the problems in this area. In addition to the ongoing work we are doing with our partner agencies to design out crime and anti-social behaviour, we are implementing both covert and overt tactics to identify drug activity and deal with offenders. This is part of a collaborative and term strategy, there are no quick solutions to these problems”.

We are utilising powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Police Act 2014 to disperse those involved in anti-social behaviour and a number have been authorised in recent weeks. These allow us to disperse people from a certain location for up to 48hrs with a view to addressing the hard core problem makers through Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO’s).

We currently have eight authorised CBO’s in Torquay, banning persons from engaging in anti-social behaviour for up to three years. We are actively applying for a further two with court dates in the near future.

We actively encourage the reporting of crime and anti-social behaviour, we take all reports seriously and as this statements reflects, the information can make all the difference in targeting drug supply. You can report anonymously through Crimestoppers or by calling 101,”

Click here to read what Torquay Police are doing about Begging and rough sleeping in the town: https://wearesouthdevon.com/torquay-police-homeless-begging/

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