Residents of a Scottish town demanded answers at an emotional public meeting held yesterday after three drug-related deaths in a fortnight.
Politicians and police officers were questioned by local people in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, who claim they are now faced with “Walking Dead-style” zombies on their streets.
Organisers said they were holding the meeting to allay fears of Mearns Village residents who are concerned about apparently widespread drug use in their area.
In the past ten days, brothers John and Scott Mitchell, as well Leigh McCracken, have all been found dead just streets from each other.
It is feared that all three deaths are linked to drug misuse but are themselves unrelated.
Council leader Tony Buchanan told the public they were trying to identify the minority who were causing problems.
He added: “Disruptive influences can happen anywhere, there is no distinguishing. We now have mixed communities which in general work very well.
“We have unfortunately had the tragic circumstances of two guys losing their life. They did though put themselves, in some respect, at risk. Their lifestyle has impacted them.”
Members of the public claimed that the problem of drug use was widespread.
One resident said: “We want to get the place cleaned out now, we’ve had enough. We want rid of all this trash that has been dumped on our doorsteps. There are druggies and hookers bringing every strange man from the countryside to my street. People talk of leafy Newton Mearns, but this place is a dumping ground.
“We need to better ways of dealing with this, or we’ll end up with more people like Scott and John dying.”
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Residents claimed that if these problems persist, the people of Newton Mearns would take matters into their own hands.
They said: “We can’t have any more deaths. Things are escalating every day in the scheme.
“What do we do when people want to take revenge? We’ll see people taking things into their own hands. We are never going to get over this as a community.”
Representatives from East Renfrewshire Police told those gathered at the meeting that the issue was considered to be “of the highest importance”.
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But they said officers were limited in the intelligence gained from the public, which was hampering their attempts to unearth the source of the problem.
A spokesman said: “We are unable to comment on an ongoing investigation.
“Let me assure the public that this issue is of the highest importance to us and will continue to be until it is resolved.”
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The spokesman added: “As we have said, if anyone experiences any of these issues please do get in touch with us.”
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