Gang victim calls for CCTV protection

1:29pm Saturday 31st May 2008

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A MAN who could only sit in terror as all the windows of his flat were smashed by a gang member is calling for CCTV to be installed at his Wealdstone council estate.

Mohammed Hussain, 45, was too scared to leave the block, in Churchill Place, after the man attacked his home and had to wait until the following morning for police to arrive.

He said: "If the gang saw that no police had come they might have tried to get inside. We didn't know what was going to happen, my wife was shivering.

"This situation actually terrified me. I couldn't believe the police were not doing anything about it, all three windows were smashed and we were totally exposed."

Mr Hussain wants cameras to be installed around the block to identify the people responsible, who he believes may have been involved in drug dealing on the estate.

He said: "I called the police maybe 50 times and the operator was saying when they were available they would come. The whole night it was so cold and I was just hearing the sound of the gang outside.

"I was waiting for the police to arrive. They came at 7.30am."

He said when officers did arrive they appologised for the wait, saying they did not realise the extent of the damage.

Mr Hussain, who works for Royal Mail, is not the only person to call for CCTV to be installed.

Dr Stephen Zelia, also of Churchill Place, said: "They come in from other parts of London to sell their drugs and we have people coming to where we live who are not in a compus mentus state.

"They think people in the flats are actually selling the drugs. We've been trying to get CCTV put in since 2005."

Mr Hussain said: "Someone was dealing drugs. They came inside to sell drugs and one of the gang members was outside.

"Something happened and he thought one of the drugs people lived in this flat. Then the gang ran away from the stairs of the block and he was circling the building looking for someone."

Will Goddard, a spokesman for Harrow Police, said Mr Hussain had reported a stone being thrown through his front window.

He said the officer who took the call said the police would not usually treat a complaint like that as an emergency requiring an immediate response.

Councillor Susan Hall, responsible for environment services at the council, said: "We are anxious to try and put CCTV in more areas to try and combat potential crime issues."

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