GANG culture has established a nasty grip on Newton Abbot with police confirming: ‘We are on to this. We are working hard to break it up.’

A hard core of up to 30 troublesome youths with bad attitude are known to be operating across the town – and their anti-social habits are turning violent.

A special operation – codenamed Turf – has been established by police to keep a lid on the growing aggression of the offenders who are copying other urban street gangs plaguing Torbay, Exeter and Plymouth.

The Newton gang’s ringleader has already been sent packing – but the vacuum of power is being filled by others who are known to take their systematic anti-social vices seriously.

Reign of menace

Their organised reign of menace first surfaced six months ago with frequent outbreaks of anti-social behaviour and criminal damage.

But they have since developed a more sinister side with several reports of serious assaults which have put victims in hospital.

Aspects of their odious behaviour – now roping in worrying acts of violence – have been outlined to concerned town councillors by Newton Abbot’s police commander Insp Adrian Woon in one of his last public duties before taking up a new post at headquarters in Exeter.

He told the Mid-Devon Advertiser: ‘This youth crime is sadly a trend which is happening nationally. We are very much aware of what is developing locally. Steps are being taken to deal with it.’

Similar problems have recently been exposed in Teignmouth.

Monitoring gatherings

Some of the troublemakers in Newton Abbot are as young as 12 and 13 with their ages going up to 18.

The gang’s favourite haunts are known to be around the Asda superstore and Victoria Gardens where their sheer numbers are seen as intimidating.

Police have been monitoring some of their gatherings with members revealing themselves to be understandably publicity-shy.

Already several of their number have been rounded up and charged to court on assault matters.

Police say they will not hesitate to deal robustly with anyone falling short of acceptable behaviour in public.

CCTV team assisting

Just ahead of the recent half-term holidays Insp Woon issued letters to local schools urging parents to keep an eye on their offspring in the wake of recent concerns about anti-social activities in the community.

He revealed that the rapid hike in thefts from cars, covered by the Mid-Devon Advertiser, had tailed off significantly lately with a string of offenders jailed.

‘We are now getting about six matters a month coming to us against the six every day we were dealing with at the height of the problem,’ he said.

He hoped a similar outcome could soon be reported on the town’s gang problem.

‘We are working closely with the Newton Abbot Security Trust CCTV team – and they are helping us to identify members of the gang and providing valuable evidence of their behaviour.

‘This is imperative to help us identify the most suitable tactics which include escalation through the anti-social behaviour framework and criminal prosecutions,’ he stressed.

He added: ‘We are also working closely with our partners including the local schools, social services and the community safety partnership to ensure that we are tackling these issues in the most appropriate manner.’

Recent figures have shown an alarming 57 per cent jump in town crime with 800 more incidents recorded in the last year. Across Devon and Cornwall the jump was just 17 per cent, against a national average of only 10 per cent.

Vehicle crime hike

Vehicle offences in Newton Abbot went stratospheric with a 260 per cent increase. Violent crime went up 50 per cent.

The statistics were given by Insp Woon at a meeting of Newton Abbot Town Council’s policy and resources committee earlier this month.