Keeping you updated - Crewe Police - Cuckooing

Good morning, 

A vulnerable gentleman in our community had his home taken over as a ‘drug base’ by local drug users. The vulnerable gentleman was spotted by local PCSO’s with a group of people who were well known to the Police, at a nearby cash point. They were asking him to withdraw cash for them to buy their drugs. The local PCSO’s disrupted the cash point transaction and meeting, by going over to the vulnerable gentleman. The PCSO’s started the conversation and asked how he knew these people, it turns out that he didn’t really know them, they had simply asked him for cash before so targeted him again. 

The more the PCSO’s got talking with gentleman, the more he opened up about what had been happening. 

This gentleman said that he was living with additional needs, but lived independently in the community, and he felt that this group of people used his kindness for a weakness. We asked to go back to his property, after he opened up and told us about his situation. He invited us in and told us that his house had been “trashed”. There was empty alcohol cans everywhere, and used drug paraphernalia all over the floors and sleeping bags took over the sofas and chairs. 

We helped him to clear up the floor space, but he was also worried that these people intended to come back to the property in the evening. He gave us names of those that had been staying in his property against his wishes.

He said that they kept knocking on his door until he opened up his property to them, this happened on a daily basis, and had been going on for a couple of months. He said that whenever he asked them to leave they would make threats, so he kept quiet to keep the situation “safe.”

He told us that he had figured out their “schedule” for when they come and go from the property, and told us the times so that we knew when to catch these people trying to attend to the property. 

His recollection of their schedules was accurate and we managed to catch the offenders in the act. 

It wasn’t a quick fix situation as there were numerous other reports that arose during the support; however the male has now been moved to a new and safer location. The individuals have been dealt with, each differently depending on their involvement in the situation. 

Many neighbours came out and spoke to us saying that they had seen these people coming and going on foot and bikes from the property, banging on the windows and coming back to the property at anti-social hours. The neighbours said that they knew about the gentleman’s vulnerabilities, but were scared to get involved and were not sure about how to go about reporting the situation. 

The situation above was ‘Cuckooing’ and this is where criminals take over someone's home to use it as a base for crime.

We want our community to feel empowered to know what to if they believe that they or their neighbour or friend, or family member is being ‘cuckooed’.

So here are some useful links to help – 

Stay safe, 

PCSO Lizzie Jolley 22582 

Crewe Police 

#pcsojolley22582 #crewepolice