A gang of thugs were accused of "bullying a young lad" into selling drugs and leaving some residents "scared to leave their homes" at night in troubled estates across Wirral.
Merseyside Police launched an operation in response to organised crime groups causing mayhem over the past year, including driving a rise in shootings. The force has been dealing with the fallout of a long-standing rivalry between two prominent gangs based mainly in the Beechwood and Woodchurch estates.
The force has also ramped up activity following the sickening Christmas Eve murder of Elle Edwards at the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey Village, when a man sprayed the crowded entrance with bullets striking the 26-year-old beautician in the head.
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Today warrants were carried out at addresses suspected of links to drug dealing, while officers also carried out open land searches and visible patrols in Beechwood and Woodchurch, stop-checks near the Wallasey Tunnel, and checks in the port area.
The force said raids in the Wallasey and Egremont areas had seen a quantity of heroin and an air rifle seized. No-one had been arrested as of Wednesday tea-time, although operations continued. The stop-checks, however, resulted in three men arrested on suspicion of drug-driving after failing roadside drug-wipe tests.
This morning, Superintendent Paul Sutcliffe, head of targeted policing at the force, briefed a deployment of officers in Fender Way on the Beechwood estate and described the fear locals had shared with officers on the street.
He said: "Since I have been here I have had information coming through my officers, through the PCSOs etc, about some of these people who are on these estates who are really nice, really genuine people. All they want to do is enjoy their community and they're in fear of these individuals who we are targeting today. They will come home at night time, they will shut their door, and they will ignore things that are going on outside because they don't want to know about it and are in fear of it, and that can't be right.
"They say they don't like their kids, their grandkids, going out on the streets at night time, because again they are fearful of these minority of individuals who cause problems in the area and that can't be right either."
Supt. Sutcliffe also referred to a "young lad" who had been recently arrested for drugs supply offences. He told his officers: "We have talked to an offender that we arrested, a young lad who quite openly admitted to us, when we asked him why he was doing it, he just says he does it because he's in fear of these other people who will attack him, bully him, and the like. So he is getting involved in criminality - doesn't want to be - again so that can't be right."
Speaking to the ECHO, Supt. Sutcliffe said: "When I first joined the police I wanted to help people and initially I just thought it would be helping victims, but you look at some of the offenders and they need help as well. This individual I talked about through being threatened by his peers and everything felt he had to be involved in the drug dealing and the like, so we will be looking to help those individuals as well."
Merseyside Police had been concerned about the situation in Wirral even before the murders of Jackie Rutter, shot dead in her home in Moreton, on October 20 and Elle Edwards on December 24.
A spate of shootings in the Woodchurch estate including a drive-by attempted murder in front of children and drug-dealing activity ensured gangs in the area were regularly on the agenda in meetings at the highest level of the force.
Sinead Holden, who runs the Sensory Shack respite centre, on Beechwood Drive, said the estate has "amazing people" despite its reputation, but needs investment.
She told the ECHO: "I don't feel safe anywhere in the country right now, but the Beechwood has got a really bad reputation and there's a lot of amazing people on here and a lot of amazing things going on. With more investment and stuff I think we could change things around here for the better."
When asked why Wirral had been chosen as a focus for the day of action, Supt. Sutcliffe said: "There's been a number of firearms discharges, and obviously the murder of Elle Edwards, but also just the continual drug-dealing. Like I said our officers have been out on the streets talking to the community, many of them, the vast majority, who are really nice individuals.
"They tell us that they're in fear of going out at night-time, they don't like their kids going out at night-time, and that simply can't be right. So what we're looking at doing now is just targeting these inviduals who are causing the community to be in fear of these things and relentlessly pursuing the organised crime groups operating in and around the area."
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