AFTER reporting on the nightmare residents of Dinas Powys were going through, including living with youths urinating in the open at train stations, and getting chickens stoned, we went to the area and spoke to one of the residents concerned about what he is seeing happening in his community.
Ross Evans has lived in Dinas for 14 years and previously ran for councillor, giving him extensive insight into the town.
Dinas is reputationally known as a "better-off" suburb of Cardiff, however Mr Evans depicted a different picture.
Having previously canvassed the area in his attempts to become a councillor, he described finding an elderly population who were scared to leave their homes – particularly in winter – due to gangs of youths roaming the streets.
Incredibly, Mr Evans tackled one of these youths in summer last year, when the youth was allegedly walking around with a knife.
Photos show Mr Evans sat on a youth on a patch of grass in Dinas with a police officer stood next to the pair.
Mr Evans said these gangs have no fear because there seems to be no punishment and no consequences for their actions.
He described Dinas as becoming “Ghetto-ish” and said all he wants to see is his community come together to live in peace.
“We all want to live in a safe place, but Dinas is not a safe place at the moment,” said Ross.
Dinas is known as quite well-off
Mr Evans described it as becoming "ghetto-ish"
The sleepy town of Dinas Powys. Not so sleepy...
Stoned chickens is the last straw as community calls for meeting with police over disarray
It was described by South Wales Police Sergeant Samantha Johnson as one of the biggest turnouts she’d seen in 18 years on the force when almost 50 residents turned up at Dinas Powys library on January 30 to speak about what they are seeing happening to a decaying community.
Concerns included assaults, thefts and vandalism.
One woman described how her chickens become stoned after a gang of youths smoked marijuana the other side of her fence.
Mr Evans tackled a youth suspected of having a knife in summer last year
Things were brought to ahead and the meeting called when gangs of masked youths brazenly walked up people's driveways attempting to break into cars - an event police were trying to link to a similiar incident in Cardiff, saying at the meeting that they had only seen this happen in the capital and Dinas.
PCSO for Dinas, Officer Samuel Martin, who attended the meet along with Sgt Johnson, said it was arranged to give residents the chance to speak openly about their concerns.
“After a number of concerns had been placed on the Dinas Powys Facebook Page, the meeting was a great success with nearly fifty residents from the community in attendance,” said Sgt Johnson and Officer Martin.
“One of the issues raised was around reporting incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour. PCSO Samuel Martin provided information on the different reporting options, which are listed below.”
Scooters just dumped in bushes
Dinas is fighting to get back that community vibe
There's been reports of Ovo bikes vandalised in the area
Your community officers Sergeant Samantha Johnson and PCSO Officer Samuel Martin
Contacting the police for different levels of incidents
Want to tell us something or report an incident emergency
- By phone Emergency 999
Want to tell us something or report an incident non-emergency?
- Online publicservicecentre@south-wales.police.uk
- By telephone 101
Stay anonymous - Crimestoppers
- Online: crimestoppers-uk.org
- By phone 0800 555 111
On Twitter and Instagram: @swpolice
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