Two people have been found inside a Croydon home that was sealed for three months amid fears it was being used as a base for drug dealing.
Police had concerns that the property on Sumner Road was being “cuckooed” — a term for criminals taking over a home, often belonging to a vulnerable person, to use it as a base for drug dealing.
Cuckooing often involves vulnerable occupants, and the officers’ return to the address was prompted by concerns that the registered occupants could be exploited.
A drugs warrant was carried out at the address on 4 August this year, and a partial closure order was granted for three months after an application was made to Croydon Magistrates’ Court. The order banned anyone from entering the property unless they lived there, were the owners, or were members of a relevant authority.
On 27 August, officers returned to the address amid concerns that the registered occupants could be exploited. They found two people inside who were allegedly breaching the closure order. Both were arrested and subsequently charged.
The breach was found within weeks of the warrant, less than a month after officers first carried out the drugs search at the property.
One of them pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court and was fined £66, and ordered to pay a total of £111 in costs and victim surcharge. The second denied the offence but was found guilty, and was fined £250 and ordered to pay £350 in costs and victim surcharge.
Closure orders are used by police and councils to shut down properties linked to crime and anti-social behaviour, and to protect vulnerable people living there. A partial closure order restricts who can enter a property, rather than closing it entirely.
Closure orders have been used elsewhere in London this week — a home in Marks Gate, Barking, was served with a closure notice earlier this week. Courts in London have handed down a series of convictions this week, including that of a London rabbi convicted of sexual assault.
Police have not named the two people found inside the Sumner Road property, and no further details have been given about the property or its occupants.
