Drugs News

Brighton and Hove could become the first city in the country to offer safe havens for addicts to use illegal drugs under professional supervision, without fear of prosecution.

Once known as the drugs capital of the UK, drug consumption rooms could be used to cut the number of fatalities from substance misuse, a report said.

Public health leaders have suggested that more people should be trained to administer a life-saving overdose antidote, as part of a series of measures aimed at cutting the harm drugs cause.

Read: Brighton is 'no longer drug capital'

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• Brighton & Hove
• Drugs

Dr Simon Harding, of Middlesex University London, interviewed illegal and legal dog owners as well as gang members as part of his research.

The research found that dangerous dogs are being bred by young men as a business asset in drug deals, debt collection and for their gang image.

A 16-year-old boy told him: "It's not just a dog, it's a half bull mastiff and half pit bull. I'll probably get another - we are looking to breed it - and we would get about £2,000 per dog."

Another boy, 17, said about pit bulls: "People know that if you are breeding you are making money from them."

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• dangerous dogs
• Crime

For many young people, dogs are increasingly viewed as a commodity which can be traded up or down like a mobile phone.

It has become less about whether the dog will fit into family life and more about, 'What will this dog do for me, how much will it make me?'.

Through their reputation for aggression or ability to intimidate [bull breeds] are also used in drug deals, gambling debts and loan-sharking, where their owners do not have recourse to law if the money owed is not paid because his business is illegal.

The dog says, 'I am here to be taken seriously' - it acts as a 'minder' and a 'heavy' when collecting dues. People believe that possession of an aggressive dog means that the threats posed by such men will be carried out.

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• dangerous dogs
• Crime

Dogs that are classed as 'dangerous' are being bred a business asset in drug deals, debt collection and for their gang image, according to new research.

• The Dangerous Dogs Act is a law introduced in 1991 following a spate of attacks by aggressive or uncontrollable dogs.
• Dangerous dogs are classified by type, not breed, which means that a dog’s physical appearance will determine whether it’s deemed to be prohibited under the law.

• If your dog is seized by the police and found to be a banned type, the court can use its discretion to place them on the list of exempted dogs.
• This means that instead of them being destroyed, you can own them provided you follow certain conditions.

• The dog has to be muzzled and kept on a lead in public, they must be registered, insured, neutered, tattooed and microchipped.
• Defra has announced that all dogs must be microchipped from 2016.
• Changes to the law will also allow owners of dogs who attack on private property to be prosecuted.

Source: www.bluecross.org.uk

• UK
• dangerous dogs
• Crime

Dangerous dogs are being bred by young men as an asset in drug deals, debt collection and for their gang image, according to new research.

More young men were using mastiffs, pit bulls, akitas and other aggressive dogs as a "commodity" for security and making money in gangs, the Middlesex University study found.

The study found the most aggressive dogs could be sold for more than £400, with owners building up their pet's muscles with vitamin supplements and even injecting them with steroids for fights.

The study, which will be presented to the British Sociological Association annual conference today, also found there has been a rise of 551% in hospital admissions for dog bites since 1991.

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• dangerous dogs
• Crime

When police raided the villa of Walter Callinan, a close associate of Philip Baron, they found a 200-page ledger detailing transactions for a total of 17 tonnes of powerful 'skunk' cannabis sent to Britain over a 17 month period.

The shipments accounted for 6% of all cannabis sent into the UK at the time.

Callinan was jailed for 11 years 2011. Shortly after his arrest, Callinan phoned his son in a recorded phone call saying the game was essentially up. SOCA investigators listened as he told his son Ben:

There is documentation, spreadsheets of monies collected off motorways... 100 grand, 60 grand, 80 grand. We're f*** mate, they've got that much documentation.

F***ing hell, the Pope wouldn't get out of this.

• UK
• Drugs

Paul Yearsley, a secondhand car dealer and close associated of Philip Baron, the head of one of the UK's most prolific drug gangs, used his drug money to fund a luxurious lifestyle in the UK and Spain.

Yearsley, who was earlier sentenced to 5 years 4 months his role in the gang, was even featured in a 2009 edition of Lancashire Life and his home displayed under the title "Living the Dream."

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• Drugs

The Serious Organised Crime Agency have said their investigation into the criminal activities of Philip Baron, dubbed Operation Beath, has "completely dismantled several high-level organised crime groups".

The following evidence has been collected:

• £800,000 seized on streets of the UK
• £10,297,523 evidence cash collected in the UK
• 1,900kg cocaine, seized in South America
• 71kg of cocaine, seized in the UK and Spain
• 8,900kg cannabis, seized in the UK and Spain
• 51 tonnes of cannabis imported into the UK
• 1.2 tonnes of cocaine imported into the UK

• UK
• Drugs