Away-day beggars

10:40am Friday 2nd May 2008

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I was very interested in the article last month about "alleged" drug dealing by beggars in Stonegate, York.

Unfortunatley, I am "privvy" to certain information as I work alongside external agencies so I cannot say exactly what I know in this column. However, drug dealing by certain beggars is taking place on the streets of York.

First things first, many of the beggars that you see on our streets are in fact "away-day beggars", these people are coming to York from Leeds to enjoy "rich pickings" from tourists and residents alike.

I know this for a fact as I have seen them get off the train.

One lad used to go into the toilets on platform 4 and get changed into his "begging attire", he would then stash his decent clothes in the grounds of the Royal York Hotel to collect later after a hard days begging!

I also know for a fact that a couple of the beggars are indeed dealing drugs, they are controlled by a modern day "Fagin" who is constantly "topping up" the beggars with drugs to sell, he does this as he would not want his "mules" to get lifted by the police and them to have an enormous stash in their possesion.

Again, this is fact, I have seen little bags of powder change hands in little deals across the city. I bet it is not sherbert in those bags. If it is, then it is expensive sherbert judging by the colour of the note that gets passed during the deal.

Certain tourist chiefs want to portray York as this quaint city where things like this do not happen. Wake up and smell the "hash", sorry, coffee. It does happen here.

So what can be done?

The police in York are not stupid, they know what is going on. The article about beggars dealing drugs will not be news to them, they will have something in the pipeline to deal with this. However, because of "Fagin" keeping his eyes peeled and only giving his "mules" enough for personal use if caught, their job is made a little harder to get a conviction.

City of York Council, the police and Safer York Partnership installed "beggar boxes" at various locations around the city. These are blue tubs secured to a wall or pole with an "uncroppable" padlock underneath.

The tubs can be found in Parliament Street, Coppergate Centre, Spurriergate, New Street, St Sampson's Square, Exhibition Square and near the cholera burial ground.

The aim was to encourage people to put cash earmarked for beggars into these tubs rather than into the hands of beggars. This would then be handed to the Salvation Army which would distribute it to those in the greatest of need.

People have been very generous. I empty these boxes with a colleague on a monthly basis. However, I caught a well-known beggar at 3.30am with a jemmy in his hand, trying to break into one of the boxes.

Generous people put money into these tubs to help people like him, yet he robs the tub to help himself. Something wrong there.

Simple solution. When you see a beggar or a blue tub, keep your hand in your pocket and just walk on.

Paul works for the City of York Council as head of a street cleansing team, he writes in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the council.