John was an elderly man who had recently become widowed following the passing of his wife. He had been attending coffee mornings at a local charity in Milton Keynes when he was befriended by a woman called Rachel.
 

Rachel was a heroin user and relied on criminality to buy her drugs. John's family noticed a change in his behaviours and mood; he wouldn't talk or engage with the family like he used to. Family members then found a bag of clothes belonging to Rachel in John's home. The bag of possessions also contained a packet of needles and other drug paraphernalia.
 

The family became concerned for John and tried to find out who Rachel is, but John was confused. The family then discovered John was spending more money than usual, and he was not answering his mobile phone. It was later found that Rachel had access to John's bank accounts and was spending his money and was keeping hold of John's phone so his family wouldn't find out what was going on.

John was grieving from the loss of his wife and messages were found on John's phone from Rachel encouraging him to use drugs to take away the emotional pain of losing a loved one. In fact, Rachel was influencing John to use drugs so he became less aware of his surroundings and what was happening to him.

After several weeks, Rachel began introducing more people to his home, including drug dealers. They would turn up unannounced during the night, force their way into John's home and refuse to leave when asked to do so. His finances and his home were now under the control of the abusers.

The family contacted the council saying they were worried about John and the people visiting him. The council carried out their own investigations which included speaking to John, who, with the reassurance that we could help him, disclosed information to our case officers which evidenced the abuse against him. Our case officers obtained statements from John, the neighbours and the family, and made an urgent application to court for an ASB injunction.

Within 24 hours of our involvement, we had secured an ASB Injunction against Rachel which prohibited her from contacting or communicating with John, handling his bank cards and finances, influencing or encouraging others to take drugs, and entering the estate where John lives.
At a later hearing, the court order against Rachel was made for 10 years with additional terms to protect a total of 4 named victims who had all come forward reporting similar abuse.

Following reports of drug activity, late night disturbances and disorder at a flat in Fishermead, our case officers quickly responded by visiting the tenant. The case officer explained to the tenant the importance of complying with his tenancy agreement and to ensure his neighbours are not impacted by anti-social behaviour caused by him or his visitors. Despite our attempts to support him, the tenant continued to allow visitors to his flat, while using the flat for illegal purposes such as drug use. Reports of fighting, shouting and late-night disturbances continued to be made and therefore the case officer took steps to obtain a closure order from the magistrates court.

The closure order was granted on a 'partial' basis, meaning the only person allowed in the property was the tenant. The court order was made for 3 months. However, the tenant continued to invite visitors to his home, and the anti-social behaviour escalated, resulting in the council seeking possession of the property to ensure long-term protection and respite for local residents.

The council launched Project CMK in response to high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in the residential areas of Silbury Boulevard in Central Milton Keynes. Our case officers worked with Thames Valley Police to identify known perpetrators and records found that two men were largely responsible for the majority of incidents in the area - over 500 in total over a 12-month period.
 

Both men were known for exploiting vulnerable tenants, introducing drug lines to tenants, engaging in drug and alcohol related behaviour, and engaging in a practice called cuckooing - this is where the perpetrator takes over the home of the victim, usually for the purpose of drug activity.

Our case officers spoke to local residents and obtained a number of statements to enable the council to take action against both men.
The first man was issued with an ASB Injunction and was excluded from entering the city centre for 3 years, amongst other prohibitions, while the second man was issued with an ASB injunction and was told to leave Milton Keynes and not return for 5 years.
 

As a result of the court orders being obtained, there has been a significant reduction in anti-social behaviour in the Silbury Boulevard area and we estimate over 500 incidents a year have been prevented.

An address in Fullers Slade became the hide out for an organised crime group. The address was being used to store firearms, with weapons being recovered and seized from a hole in the back garden.

Our ASB Team carried out reassurance visits to concerned residents in the area and took immediate action against the property. A full closure order was swiftly granted which had
the impact of closing down the property for 3 months. Possession proceedings then commenced, resulting in the property being recovered by the council.

A property in the New Bradwell area was the subject of reports from concerned residents. Reports of late-night visitors, noise nuisance and frequent foot traffic to the property alerted residents to contact the council.

Our case officers worked with police and after some quick investigations found the property to be used for sex working and drug activity.
A closure order was quickly obtained, closing the property for 3 months. The council then recovered the property.

An elderly tenant in the Newport Pagnell area reported harassment by a neighbour. The tenant also reported threats and abusive language. Despite attempts made to bring the harassment to a stop, through a series of warnings and out-of-court interventions, the issues continued to escalate.

In the Summer of 2024, the tenant reported a further incident – an alleged threat against the victim whilst being in possession of a knife. The ASB Team were satisfied that the problems were not likely to cease and therefore took legal action against the perpetrator. An incident was soon granted against the neighbour with terms to protect the victim and other residents in the area. The perpetrators home was later recovered by the council.

An elderly tenant in the Oldbrook area reported harassment by two women who had tried to befriend him whilst out in the community. The tenant claimed the women had accessed his bank account, had applied to become his carer in order to obtain access to welfare payments, and used his phone to apply for loans and credit cards.

The ASB Team carried out a number of lines of enquiry which included identifying the two women. The harassment were quickly evidenced and in doing so the case officer applied to court for an ASB Injunction against both women. Interim orders were obtained to provide immediate protection to the victim, before final orders were granted for 3 years and 5 years respectively. The terms now prevent both women from handling cash and finances belonging to other people, from entering Oldbrook, from contacting or communicating the victim, and a number of perpetrators associating or interacting with each other.

The council received reports of a male visitor to the Great Linford area who was harassing a tenant and engaging in alcohol-related anti-social behaviour. Reports included human noise nuisance, disorder and disturbances.

The ASB Team worked engaged positively with our tenant to establish the risks and to put immediate safeguarding actions in place.
When the behaviours continued to escalate, with reports from neighbours of violence and further disorder throughout the day and night, the council obtained an ASB Injunction against the perpetrator which, amongst other terms, excluded him from the area.

Over the next 12 months the perpetrator had breached his injunction by entering the exclusion zone, resulting in a suspended sentence being given by the court. When the perpetrator did this again several months later, the court granted an immediate custodial sentence.