‘I feel unsafe’ say locals in hellhole suburb where machete gangs rule & teens attack shopkeepers who refuse them booze
ALCOHOLICS congregate on sofas outside a furniture shop while a stone’s throw away, men brazenly deal drugs in the street.
In a nearby park a homeless man has pitched a tent, while a phone mast is graffitied with the words ‘F*** the Fedz’.
A mile away from Leeds city centre, residents in poverty-stricken Harehills claim the area is blighted by alcohol and substance abuse, while a recent spate of gangland-style stabbings and murders has left people fearing for their safety.
In September a 16-year-old was slashed on Florence Street by two men armed with machetes – but locals say shocking incidents like these are becoming increasingly commonplace.
An employee who works at a garage along the street where it happened, who didn’t wish to be named, told The Sun: “Harehills life is bulls***. I am from Belgium and I can’t believe what I’m seeing here.
“I need to move away. I came here and I’ve never seen anything like it. I feel unsafe.
“How can there be a murder on the street where you work? A murder? I thought England had high standards.”
Simanga Musipa, 48, who runs a music studio in his home on Ashton Place, told us: “I live my life too much like I lived in Zimbabwe.
“The problem around here is that there is no CCTV – the police and the council don’t do anything about the problems here.
“If you or I were to commit a crime, we would think about putting a balaclava on, but not round here.
“It all happens out in the open because there is nothing to keep an eye on anybody.
“Crimes that should be happening in other places are happening here because they are away from cameras.”
The ward of Harehills and Gipton is one of Leeds’ most populous, with an estimated 30,879 people living in and around the streets, flats and housing schemes.
The high amount of rental means a lot of homes are neglected, and living in such close quarters has led to an inflated crime rate of 241.4 crimes per 1,000 residents. The national average is 75.88.
The area is renowned for its mass riots in June 2001, as well as the killing of a 20-year-old man, Adam Chadwick, shot in 2008 in a case of mistaken identity.
In 2007, a 14-year-old girl, Zuzanna Zommer, was sexually assaulted and murdered in a frenzied attack by her neighbour, convicted rapist Michael Clark.
Violent crime remains the biggest issue, with 3,122 incidents reported in 12 months up to June this year, along with concerning numbers across public order offences (963 incidents), criminal damage (642 incidents) and antisocial behaviour (517 incidents).
In 2021 a 19-year-old was jailed for punching an off-licence owner and threatening him with a machete in a row over a £3.75 drink, before using it to cause £3,000 worth of damage by smashing up the shop doors.
Meanwhile Harehills’ drug crime rate equates to more than one offence every day (389 incidents).
At the Yaadgaar Sweet Centre, a thriving eatery popular among the multicultural population, the manager says everyone knows what is going on.
Shah Rukh, 36, said: “My 20-year-old son was looking for somewhere to live and I told him not to move here.
“You can’t move for drugs, you can see drugs when you’re walking down the street, you can’t even go to the park without seeing it.
“It is a real worry because the police don’t seem to be doing anything about it. Everybody else knows what is going on but they don’t do anything.
“The problem is that this is where the violence comes from.”
Yaadgaar is located next to a furniture shop called BJ’s Bargains with sofas for sale outside.
There dishevelled drinkers take advantage of the comfy seats and sink cans at all times of the day.
But, Shah said, they “don’t cause any problems really. Sometimes they argue with themselves but don’t hassle anybody else”.
In Banstead Park, across from the main shopping street, a homeless man has set up camp with a blue tent, sleeping bags and a BBQ. Locals tell us he’s been there nearly 12 months.
Shop worker Kevin McHale, 60, is out walking his dog Betty in the park when he tells us about the problems.
“It is like London here,” he said. “You expect to hear news of stabbings and crime in a big city, but this shouldn’t be happening in a small suburb of Leeds. It’s terrible.
“I am not shocked to hear about stabbings and gangs with machetes anymore because they are an everyday occurrence around here.
“I often come home at 9pm after finishing work at Smyth’s and it is busier at night than it is during the day.”
William Rigby, 63, is a self-employed builder and he has lived in the area for 30 years.
He said: “I was broken into when I was first moving in, it was when it was empty.
“I put metal grilles on the doors and windows after that and I’ve not been broken into since. Everybody on the street has them.
“I have CCTV overlooking the bin yard and it’s also locked, they all are. I set up all that security after I got a motorbike and got it nicked, so it won’t happen to me again.
“I have five deadlocks on my door so that I can lock up at night and feel completely safe as I sleep. Nobody is getting in here.”
But despite having to take drastic measures to protect his home, William says he “doesn’t mind” the area.
“I don’t really pay attention to what’s going on around me,” he admits. “I live in my own little world with my wife and we lock that door and get on with our lives.”
The area does have its good points; it is a wonderful cultural mix of ethnicities that creates a feeling of acceptance and diversity.
Its two main shopping streets, on Harehills Land and Harehills Road, encompass a vast range of home and clothing retail along with food outlets, charity hubs and solicitors, to name a few.
Abdulrahim Othman, 49, has just opened a business selling appliances and furniture in an old garage.
He said he knows nothing about the recent stabbing, having only just opened in the area, but added: “I know there are a lot of drugs and drink here, but it is a good place for business.
“It is very busy with a lot of customers. They don’t have a lot of money so they always want to buy things as cheap as possible and sometimes have to pay for things a bit at a time, but I have a lot of customers.”
Earlier this year a shopkeeper, Shahid Gohar, who ran Gohar Discount Shop on Harehills Lane, told how he would give away loaves of bread to needy families who were struggling in the cost of living crisis.
But when we went to speak to him his shop was shuttered up.
Naz Rashid, 40, who works in sales and repairs at Gas and Electrical World next door on Harehills Lane, told us his neighbour had had to close because he couldn’t make ends meet and now works as an Uber driver.
Naz said he doesn’t think Harehills deserves the reputation it has.
“I grew up here and had a great childhood, playing marbles and cricket on the streets, but there were no cars then,” he told us.
“Now you can’t even get a parking space. There are a lot of families who live here who just want to get on with their lives.
“It’s the drugs that cause the problem. There is a lot of drug dealing and it happens completely out in the open.”
Owner of RS Minimarket, Shailendra Bhagal, 48, was angry to be turned down when he applied to extend his licence so he could sell alcohol at 8am in the morning.
At the moment he opens at 11am but worries if he opens earlier he will get trouble from locals who demand he sells them alcohol when he is not allowed.
“They refused my licence,” he said, “which I don’t understand why, they said it was because of a problem with alcohol in the area but the post office and an off licence further down the road sell it so I don’t see what difference it makes.
“So many people have asked me if I will open early but I don’t feel I can unless I have a licence.”
A former clergyman, who did not wish to give his name, moved to the outskirts of Harehills to retire when he retired in 2012.
Despite being burgled and having cars vandalised, he doesn’t believe it deserves its bad reputation.
“We love the diversity of culture,” he said. “Yes it does have its problems but I like to remain upbeat about it.”
The Sun has reached out to Leeds City Council for comment.
Inspector Alastair Nicholls, who heads the Leeds East Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We recognise there are concerns about the issue of drug dealing in the Harehills area and are tackling this and other existing issues in the area through the CommUnity Harehills project.
“This ongoing project sees our officers work with partner agencies and the community to target organised criminal activity and put measures in place to build resilience so it is less susceptible to other criminal groups by using the Home Office’s ‘Clear Hold Build’ tactic.
“These operations are aimed at improving local people’s confidence and trust in the police and partner agencies by delivering a whole-system approach to improve the local community.
“The issue of drug dealing is taken seriously and anyone with concerns about this is asked to contact their local NPT so these concerns can be investigated and acted upon.”
