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POLICE are working to “take out” kingpin gang leaders who are recruiting children, an inspector has revealed. During a wide-ranging interview with the Echo, Insp Scott Fitzmaurice, from Essex Police, outlined the relentless work to tackle gang culture. It comes after Essex Police revealed 15 teenagers from two gangs - the Leigh Lot and the O Block - were linked to drug dealing, violence and anti-social behaviour. The gangs have now been banned from entering parts of Southend, Rayleigh and Leigh. Insp Fitzmaurice said: “We are certain these gang members are involved in county lines drug operations and it’s on quite a large scale in and around Southend.
Patrol - officers in Chalkwell Park and some of the exclusion zone PARENTS should check their child’s bags “and pat them down” before they go out in the fight against gang culture and crime, campaigners say. The calls for action come after Essex Police revealed 15 teenagers from two gangs - the Leigh Lot and the O Block - were linked to drug dealing, violence and anti-social behaviour. The gangs have now been banned from entering parts of Southend, Rayleigh and Leigh. Police are also probing the gangs’ potential links to the murder of Lee Chapman in Southend in March 2020, the murder of Luke Bellfield in Leigh in February this year, as well as a disturbance in Southend in August 2020 where a man died and another suffered life-changing injuries.
Police - teams on patrol in Chalkwell Park. Inset: Some of the exclusion zones TEENAGERS from gangs which police believe could possibly be linked to two murder investigations, have been banned from entering parts of Southend, Rayleigh and Leigh. The fifteen yobs - five boys from the Leigh Lot and ten boys from O Block - are part of gangs which have been linked to drug dealing, violence and anti-social behaviour. Police are also investigating possible links between the gangs, based in Southend and Rayleigh, and a violent incident in which a man died and another suffered life-changing injuries after a disturbance in Southend in August last year.
URINE lined the streets while broken bottles were left scattered across Old Leigh following yet another night of chaos for the town. Leigh councillor Carole Mulroney is now calling for a dispersal order to be put in place every weekend throughout the summer, covering the town from Friday to Sunday along with bank holiday Mondays. It’s hoped the move will deter the repeated onslaught suffered by the community with Leigh having been plagued with gang fights, drug dealing and drunken youths causing mayhem. It comes after yet another dispersal zone was imposed in Leigh Old Town following anti-social behaviour and people refusing to leave the area.