Silent Crime: Women in parts of Leeds say they are scared to walk streets at night due to crime and anti-social behaviour
Residents in parts of Leeds say they are afraid to walk the streets at night due to the prevalence of crime.
Women who were gathered at the Beeston Village Community Centre said that they have been the victims of thefts and racism - and raised concerns about rising levels of anti-social behaviour in south Leeds.
The group had met for a spot of morning exercise and were sat around enjoying coffee and cakes when they agreed to speak about crime in the south Leeds area.
It comes as part of a campaign currently being run by the Yorkshire Evening Post and parent company National World called ‘Silent Crime’. As part of the campaign we’re focusing on every day crime that goes unreported to police.
The women have shared their experiences as part of the campaign.
Mum-of-two Kaddy Collay told the YEP that only recently she was left in despair after cruel thieves stole her baby rocker and garden chair.
She said: “We didn’t even put it outside and now I feel like I can’t put anything in the garden. It’s bad. It’s not safe.”
Meanwhile, Sinead Egerton said that the streets around nearby Middleton where she lives were “like a rat race” with kids on e-scooters and mopeds. She said she had also seen youths “throwing rocks at buses”, firing BB guns at people from motorcycles, verbally abusing residents and stealing bikes in a wave of anti-social behaviour.
“They steal bikes and just dump them in Middleton Park”, she said.
“If you have a look around you will see the odd one hidden in the bushes. There was a burnt down car in there the other day as well. And another thing that comes and goes is setting bins on fire. It’s just one thing after another.”
One of the prevailing themes from speaking to the women and others around Beeston was that many didn’t feel that there was enough of a police presence. They also said they thought those committing the crimes felt they could get away with it.
“There needs to be consequences”, Sinead said.
“I reported kids shooting BB guns two years ago to the police and they note it down and give you a [crime] reference number but I’ve not heard anything back. And that does just seem to be the end of it.”
Mariana Poluccia, who was running the group session, added that after a bike and baby chair had been stolen, she reported the matter to the police.
“I had CCTV footage and shared it with the police. After they went round they came back and said ‘next time if you don’t want people to steal from your garden then you need to not put stuff in there and lock your garage’.
“I was shocked. I was so upset. Why should I have to worry about that? It’s not right.
“If that had happened in my country then these people would have been arrested and they would need to pay me for how they behaved.”
Mariana, who is originally from Moldova, added that she feels safer walking the streets at night in her home country - partly through better lighting of the streets.
She said: “My country is poorer but we have lights in the parks and in the streets to feel safer. If I’m walking in the night-time and I see a drunk person I can try to be safe.
“But, here, there’s no lights and not enough cameras and it’s like ‘okay, what is going on?’ How do I know I am safe?”
Sinead said that she felt tackling the crime would take immense measures but that it needed to start with education
“Kids need to be taught straight from they’re young”, she said.
“Because that’s how you can influence the trajectory of their lives and stop them getting into gangs.”
Kaddy added: “I think they need education and opportunities. And it’s so important to learn how to be kind.”
The women also brought up the issue of racism and how they felt that its prevalence was now fuelling some of the crime that they had witnessed.
Sinead, who is white, said: “As a woman, I don’t walk around after a certain time and there’s so much racism that I’m lucky in some ways.
“When there were the riots the other week I had to house a Muslim woman and her African friend as they were walking past the house because someone was abusing them. They were literally shaking and all they were doing was going about their business and having a chat.
“They stayed for two hours and had a cup of tea before they felt safe enough to go home and I thought ‘how awful is that?’ They shouldn’t have to feel like that. Nobody should.”
Inspector Mark Lund, who leads the Leeds South Neighbourhood Policing Team, said police and their partners would take action against criminals - and urged residents to report instances of crime.
Insp Lund said: “We work closely with partner agencies across Leeds and beyond to keep the communities of Leeds South safe and to take action against those whose criminal activities blight our neighbourhoods.
“All reports of crime and anti-social behaviour are taken seriously and we encourage people to report these matters through our channels – using 101 for non-emergencies and 999 where there is a threat to life, or a crime is in progress.
“Anyone with safety concerns is also encouraged to make contact with the team, so we can liaise with the appropriate partners to respond to these issues.”