'Fear on streets of Kells' over gang of teenagers

Youngsters who had become "terrorists on the streets", teenagers intimidating mothers over their children's drug debts and the vicious beating of a 17 year-old as he walked home from a bus were among the incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour highlighted at a meeting of Kells Town Council this week. The mother of a 13 year-old Kells boy had groups of slightly older teenagers calling to her door to collect her son's 'drug debt', the meeting on Monday night heard, while councillors claimed there were people afraid to walk the streets at night because of a gang of teenagers. Cllr Conor Ferguson proposed that the council seek a meeting with the gardai in relation to antisocial behaviour and drug problems in the town. He was told that the council would be meeting with the local garda superintendant in September with a view to setting up a Joint Policing Committee (JPC) for Kells. Cllr Ferguson told the meeting that a mother had 15 and 16 year-olds coming to her door looking for money they said her 13 year-old owed them for drugs. "This young fellow would never have been interested in drugs, but because of peer pressure, had said 'yes', and now five or six young fellows at a time were coming to his mother's door," he claimed. He said the council had a responsibility to residents of its estates to allow them to live with a sense of security. Cllr Brian Curran said parents had to be responsible for these young people "who had become terrorists on the streets". He said: "People from those in their 80s to teenagers are afraid of their lives of this group", adding: "Two weeks ago, a 17 year-old lad got off the bus in town and walked down Maudlin and was viciously attacked, and turned up on his own doorstep covered in blood." Cllr Frankie Lynch said, a week previously, while he had been driving, he saw a group of youths drinking in the Maudlin Street area and a man coming walking down the road. "On my way back, I saw the man just standing there. I gave him a lift because he was just afraid to walk down the street," he said. Cllr Sean Drew said there was substantial fear among the general public because of what is going on with some youths. He said that they walk about in a group of about 10 or 12 and he wanted to know why nothing is being done about them, as some have now turned 18. "On the fair day, they set fire to bales of straw and laughed into the face of the gardai," he said. Cllr Sarah Reilly said Ireland had the highest number of young people using illegal highs (15 per cent) in Europe, where the average was six per cent. Cllr Ollie Sweeney said Kells Town Council had led the way in dealing with head shops, but there was an awful lot more work to be done. Cllr Tommy Grimes supported the call for a meeting with the gardai, but pointed out that Kells was no different from any other town, Cllr Bryan Reilly said he didn't want the message to go out that it was only in council estates there was a problem - these problems existed all around the town. Cllr Brian Collins said that while the incidents described were horrific, they were nothing in comparison to some parts of the country. "Our problems can still be solved. There are just a few ringleaders and if they can be dealt with, we can solve the issue," he said. Families needed to know where their children were at night, he added. Cllr Ferguson urged people to report all incidents of antisocial behaviour. He said the council could only act if there were a number of complaints against individuals.