Three arrests over shootings in Doncaster villages

On Wednesday August 15, we received reports of a firearm being discharged at a house on Lindrick Close, Conisbrough. Damage was caused to a window of the house and no one was injured.

Around ten minutes later, a second report was received of shots being fired at a house on Lime Tree Walk, Denaby Main. Again, damage was caused to an upstairs window of the house but no one was injured.

Detectives are treating them as targeted.

A man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of a firearms offence in connection to both incidents and has since been released under investigation.

Officers from our force are continuing with enquiries in relation to this matter, and arrested three people on Wednesday August 29 in connection with it. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Obviously residents are concerned about incidents of this nature, but I'd like to reassure the community that we are thoroughly investigating this, and will meet crime like this robustly. Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 1055 of 15 August 2018. You can also pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111

 

July saw Edlington Police Station re-opened to the public again as a community drop in and conversation point.

It is open for a number of hours twice a week for the public to come in and talk to ourselves, and our partner agencies such as Doncaster Council and St Leger Homes.

The move has been really well received and a lot of people have visited the police station, and we will be continuing with these drop-ins. It is another avenue for people to come and speak to us.

Most of the things that have been raised have been regarding anti-social behaviour in the area..

We're aware of the concerns people have had in Edlington, and that is why we are working hard in the area. We have recently issued restorative justice orders to two local youths, in connection with two separate incidents.

 

Concerns over drug dealing, parking, and speeding were raised with us when we went out to Scawsby Community for our most recent Community Engagement Meeting, for Doncaster North.

The complaints about drug dealing were in the Bentley and Askern area. This is an issue that we are looking into all the time. We are working to stop it, and I would encourage anyone with information about this sort of activity to contact us - that will help us stop it.

Another issue that was raised with us in Bentley was that of speeding cars in the area. The particular concerns that were raised on the night were about cars on one of the residential streets, Royston Avenue. The incidents have been late at night, at around 3am.

We are looking to respond to the concerns with dedicated activities.

Parking was also raised, with concerns about a problem at St David's Drive, in Scawsby.

People are concerned about drivers there parking and obstructing their driveways and footpaths.

This is something that we often hear about close to school starting and finished times, so we have not had many issues of that sort recently, with the schools having been on holidays, but it is something that we usually expect to increase again this month.

We are looking at putting together some targeted patrols and working with schools and parents. But we would ask people to be considerate with their parking. You might only be there for five minutes, but that could be the five minutes when someone wants to get their car out.

 

We have been running community engagement meetings for some time - but now we have started running them online too.

We have just held the first one, which saw me engaging with residents on the Doncaster West policing team Facebook page to answer your questions live.

The next one will be held in the middle of September, and after that we'll be running them on a monthly basis.

The questions were put to us in a very good spirit - it was very civilised.

The great thing was that 900 people engaged with the session - that is the number of people who viewed the page.

Not everyone asked a question, but there were a few.

We can't get around every village with the community engagement meetings, and not everyone can get out to them. But these sessions are providing people with an opportunity to ask questions.

We will still have the physical meetings in the community buildings, but the Facebook sessions will offer another opportunity to contact us.