'Insidious' harassment in drug-related intimidation

Families across the country are facing the "very serious and insidious problem" of harassment, which is causing huge amounts of stress and anxiety, according to an agency that supports those experiencing drug-related intimidation.

National co-ordinator of Drug Related Intimidation and Violence Engagement (DRIVE) Siobhán Maher has said drug-related intimidation is a "very serious and insidious problem" affecting families and communities "throughout the country."

She said it causes people to live with "huge amounts of stress and anxiety."

The son of Philip English, who was murdered in a firebomb attack in Waterford, has said the family was killed because of someone else's €20,000 drugs debt.

Kim English, Philip English and their sons, 12-year-old Callum and nine-year-old Jayden, died after an incendiary device set fire to their home in the Birchwood estate yesterday morning.

John James English told RTÉ News that the family had been terrorised for years.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Maher said intimidation takes different forms in parts of the country, depending on whether in urban or rural areas.

"In urban areas you'd have people being threatened, there'd be knocks on the door, there would be threats through social media..."

Ms Maher said this contrasted with the type of intimidation people in rural areas face, where they are more isolated, there would be "dealers coming to the door" and to stop this individuals may have to sell farm machinery to pay drug debts.

"We know for a fact that drug-related intimidation has been reported in every county in the country," and DRIVE is receving more requests from people for support.

She added, "if dealers can't get the money from the person that has allegedly built up the drug debt, they will move on to the extended family, whether it be the parents or the grandparents or siblings."

She said intimidation could also be in the form of "threats of violence, actual violence, it could also be a situation where maybe the person who has built up the drug debt that they would be coerced into situations where they'd be pressured in to carrying out illegal activities to repay the drug debt.

"This could be involving maybe delivering drugs, carrying drugs, acting as a lookout, threatening somebody else - so becoming the intimidator."

She said the stress, anixety, and fear experienced by victims of drug-related intimidation can result in them "being afraid to go outside their door, they feel like they're being watched all the time, jumping when the phone rings, jumping when somebody knocks on the door.

"You can only imagine the fear that you would have for the rest of your family members," if they were the ones being targeted.

Ms Maher said victims do not have to go the gardaí "if they don't want to, there's support available for people all over the country....through their regional or local drug and alcohol taskforce where they would get signposted to services....

"Whether that be family support services, drug and alcohol support services for the person who has built up the drug debt, youth services - whatever it is that they want they will and can access those services," she said.

Victims advised to 'reach out to services'

Criminologist Triona O'Connor has said that drug-related intimidation begins with "verbal harassment."

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with David McCullough, she said: "that might be texts, a phone call, or an in-person confrontation, or indeed there could be a social media post."

She said that "loitering and surveillance" is probably one of the first times that a victim might realise they are being targeted.

"So that might be a gang member sitting or standing outside the target's home, maybe with a weapon like a knife."

Ms O'Connor said she had heard accounts of knives being dragged up and down railings, or what looks like a bomb being left on a window-sill or doorstep, windows "being put in, so the property damage and the vandalism is there as well."

She said it can then move on to "forced criminality" for those being targeted, perhaps young people, who may be told they must "transport or sell drugs, or indeed, perform criminal acts against their debts or the debts of the person in their family."

She added this might in turn be drug-related intimidation they are "forced to engage in also."

Ms O'Connor said the advice for people in the grip of drug-related intimidation is to "reach out to services."

She said An Garda Síochána has someone in each garda station who can deal in confidence with drug-related intimidation.

"But when something like this happens in a community, we do need an emergency response. We need to look at the protocol, so we need to have a psychological protocol there, keep people feeling safe.

"We need psychological services in schools, for example, because young people who are witnessing this in their community can be very traumatised by it and they need to look up to familiar adults and usually in school that's where the grounding is."

Ms O'Connor said families who fall victim to drug-related intimidation "should keep everything as much as they can as normal as possible and keep children in school and then reach out to the authorities, and the gardai will support them and there are community resources as well that will help."