GLASGOW: Neighbours from hell are evicted

Neighbours from hell are evicted

Tracy McNaughton accused neighbours of 'making up lies' about her after she was evicted from her home An eviction notice is put up in Powerfoot Street in Parkhead by police officers Homes are boarded up after the closure order THIS is one of five neighbours from hell who was thrown out of her home in Glasgow's East End. Action can signal new crackdown on rogue tenants HOUSING chiefs admit it has taken time for agencies to start using the new anti-social legislation, introduced three years ago. But they hope the action taken in Parkhead will come to be viewed as the test case which succeeded in ridding housing estates of rogue tenants. Under the terms of last week's order, the five residents thrown from their homes in Powfoot Street are banned from returning for three months. Until then the premises will remain sealed off with shutters covering the windows and doors. But Parkhead Housing Association chief executive Jim Strang says the organisation has no intention of allowing the five back in three months for a "welcome home party". He is preparing to go back to court this week to have them formally evicted. If there is not enough court time to complete the eviction process within three months then police will seek a three-month extension of the closure order. Glasgow's first closure order was obtained in 2005 against David Haith, who lived at Lethington Tower in Shawlands. Residents had complained of parties, fighting, drug-taking and drinking. Tracy McNaughton was evicted after police were called to her street more than 100 times in three months. The closure orders on the three properties in the city's Powfoot Street in Parkhead were enforced after years of complaints. The families were ordered to leave on Friday at 3pm and given just three hours to remove their personal belongings and get out. Police and housing chiefs went to Glasgow Sheriff Court armed with a massive catalogue of incidents they claimed were linked to the three homes. They ranged from shouting and playing loud music to street fights, vandalism and assaults, including at least one serious assault. It was the first time a multiple closure order had been obtained by a Scottish court since the Anti-Social Behaviour (Scotland) Act came into force in 2004. One neighbour said the estate in Parkhead would be "putting the flags out" and another said the action would give them "well-deserved respite". The closure order - issued by Sheriff Deirdre MacNeill - is for three months but the five residents at the centre of the action will now be served with eviction notices by their landlords, Parkhead Housing Association. They were named as Mary Dearie, 52, and her son, John Dearie, 20, of 34 Powfoot Street, McNaughton, 27, who lived in the same close, and Nicola McInally, 36, and her son Jamie McInally, 18, of 42 Powfoot Street. After leaving her flat on Friday afternoon, a defiant McNaughton said she had done nothing except play loud music and accused neighbours of "making up lies" about her. But Superintendent Michelle Martin said: "There has been a lot of anti-social behaviour around here for some considerable time. "I take no great pleasure in putting people out of their homes but this sends out a powerful message to the local community that we take their complaints seriously and are willing to act on their behalf." The hearing was told the blocks - with a nursery and sheltered housing complex nearby - were covered in graffiti, broken glass, litter and urine. Superintendent Martin added that they had "commandeered a notoriety". The court heard mobs of youths regularly visited the homes armed with Buckfast, cider and drugs. McInally's son brought friends from Castlemilk who were often involved in violent clashes with yobs congregating at the homes of the other two women. On June 30 this year, an innocent 15-year-old - whose dad lived in one of the tenements - was walking his dog when he was caught in the middle of a fight and seriously assaulted. PC Gary Price - community officer for the area - said there had been an 188% rise in reported crime and disorder in the street from last year - the main problems stemming from these three flats. Jim Strang, chief executive of Parkhead Housing Association, said: "This sends a clear message to anti-social tenants within the association that we are really serious in dealing with this." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1745667.0.neighbours_from_hell_are_evicted.php