Bristol street "one of the most dangerous in the country"
Violence in the area has been compared to the horror film the Purge
A street in Bristol has been described as "one of the most dangerous in the country" by a local councillor.
Violence, drug dealing and organised crime are plaguing a street in St Judes, behind Cabot Circus, according to a local resident.
Jen Smith, who just moved out of a block of flats on Wade Street after living there almost a decade, urged Bristol City Council to take action on reducing the levels of violence in St Judes.
The area is also home to a few nightclubs, and is earmarked for a major regeneration project.
Speaking to councillors on the children and young people policy committee on Thursday (29/8), she described how her children regularly witnessed violence just outside their home.
This included a “beer bottle up the rectum incident”, and comparisons to the horror film the Purge.
In a written statement, Jen Smith said: “I have serious concerns about the amount of violence, drug dealing and consumption, and organised crime that children and young people have to witness growing up."
"I don’t believe it has been taken seriously over time and it has come as no surprise to me that there has been a wave of knife crime in St Judes and Easton.
“A laissez-faire attitude to community issues in St Jude’s over the years has allowed a hotbed of violence to become normal and the everyday. Some days in St Judes it felt like the Purge. Violence is infectious. It grows and it spreads like a virus.
“Within days of moving in, my children had a panoramic view of people punching each other in the face. This upgraded to fighting with glass, hammers, fireworks, bricks, metal bars, knives, fists, general sporting equipment like cricket bats, a car-jacking — and there was even a beer bottle up the rectum incident.”
Ms Smith also described how some housing associations are failing to tackle anti-social behaviour, as well as teaching her children how to defend themselves in case of an attack. The regular violent incidents contribute to young people wanting to carry weapons, she claimed.
She added: “On one afternoon, I found myself debating whether to phone the police when a man had another man trapped on the railings below threatening to cut him open with a knife over what was likely a £5 drug debt. This would have provoked horror in other parts of Bristol, but in St Judes, it can be a fairly typical afternoon."
“I strongly feel, through personal experience, that some housing associations do not take the welfare of tenants seriously when it comes to antisocial behaviour in St Judes. This contributes to violence and fear within blocks of flats. That fear infects the lives of children and easily grows into them wanting to carry their own weapons to defend themselves. I’ve seen this first hand.
“The last 12 months living in St Judes I taught my children how to barricade themselves in at home. How to move a piece of furniture to block doors. How to defend themselves from knife crime. How to wait in the corridor until you had heard others pass-by on the stairs. This came after I was threatened by a man I did not know over someone else’s debt.”
More details of the council’s work on tackling youth violence will be shared during the next time the committee meets, in October. The committee welcomed the frank account of life in St Judes, particularly as some of the council’s own tenants live in the area.
Green Councillor Christine Townsend, chair of the children’s committee, said: “When this statement came in, there are those who would have possibly sent it back for moderation or even refused it. However, I’ve accepted it as it is."
“This is somebody’s lived experience and I think it’s really important that we fully understand the impact on children and young people. Wade Street is a residential area. There’s a high number of families and individuals who are not only social renting but also some of our own tenants live in this area.
“I looked at some of the data on safety levels in Wade Street. One of the postcodes is in the top one per cent for danger in the country, and the other two postcodes are in the top two per cent. By comparison, Stapleton Road is three per cent, and East Street is four per cent.
“So it’s clearly one of the most dangerous streets in the entire country, and the impact of growing up in and around that on young people and children is evident. It’s really important that we start to recognise and see that there are areas within our city where children and young people really do need support.”