Drugs fear after youth arrested (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Drugs fear after youth arrested

RESIDENTS in Athelstan Road, Malmesbury, fear their street is becoming a hotbed of illegal drug activity.

Problems have been brewing on the road, and its surrounding area, for some years.

People living there have experienced cases of anti-social behaviour, intimidation and suspected drug dealing in the past and many fear that these issues are reappearing and youngsters are being drawn into them.

On Tuesday night, a 15-year-old boy, Tom Forward, was caught in Athelstan Road and detained by

police under the Mental Health Act, after he became distressed from taking drugs, according to his father.

David Forward, 50, of Hobbes Close, said that his son, who was taken to a hospital in Oxfordshire, had previously overcome problems with cannabis and bad behaviour, but had fallen in with the wrong crowd again.

In 2003, Mr Forward posted pictures of his two children, Samantha, who was then 16, and Tom, who was then 13, on the Internet in a bid to

prevent them from descending into a life of drugs and crime.

This week he said he was concerned that his son was obtaining drugs in Athelstan Road.

"He was in a pretty bad state," said Mr Forward. "He was hearing voices and he said he could read people's thoughts. He was very distressed and he had gone a bit mad, as it were, so he had obviously taken something.

"He was getting very agitated and aggressive and he was becoming out of hand.

"The doctor and psychiatrist had been to see him, but it got to the stage where I had to call the police for fear of his safety.

"Unfortunately, he managed to

escape and he ran off. The police

arrived in force and managed to take him away.

"This is another victim of drugs in Malmesbury. The neighbours think something should have been done weeks ago and now this child, who was perfectly okay and getting his act together, is now locked up."

Mr Forward also said that one of his windows had been smashed last week and he added that incidents of vandalism had been occurring in the area.

Diana Stanley, 67, who lives in Athelstan Road, said it used to be one of the nicest places in Malmesbury, but has deteriorated in recent years.

"It's been a nightmare for me," she said. "I've been in the road for 32 years and I've never known it as bad as this. It's very worrying.

"I've been waiting for something like this to happen for years.

"It's a nightmare for the road. We have got a lot of children here and a lot of elderly people. It used to be one of the best roads in town."

Malcolm Trobe, headteacher at Malmesbury School, where Tom used to be a pupil, said that drug problems among youngsters in the town are a constant worry.

"We obviously have concerns about young people having access to any drugs which will be deemed illegal," he said.

"We have a strong drug awareness programme in school. We are concerned that access to drugs is significantly easier than it was a few years ago. The temptations are there for youngsters and peer pressure can be difficult to resist, but we do our best to educate them so they are aware of those dangers."

A spokesman for Malmesbury police said that they would look into any incidents as and when they come up. He said: "Problems will be dealt with as and when they come up. There is no particular problem up there, it is just a few people causing problems for the rest."