Earlier this week, a snooker club in Batley was raided by police and other organizations. The snooker club, located on Bradford Road, was being looked into by the police, fire department, gambling commission, Kirklees Licensing and Excise after information had been exchanged.

When the raid took place, three men were arrested after a large amount of marijuana was found. All three men, ages 27, 28 and 29 were arrested for using the snooker hall to supply controlled substances to patrons. Another man, age 25, was arrested for other matters.

Other agencies involved, the fire service, Gambling Commission, Kirklees Licensing, and Customs and Excise, seized thirteen gaming machines from the premises, an axe, samurai sword and a sheath knife were also seized. After the arrests were made, the police moved on to residences to search and found more marijuana.

Kirklees has been providing the Kirklees Anti-Social Behaviour Challenge to try and make a difference in the community and by working together with the other agencies; they were able to make a difference. Nicola Gibson, a Kirklees inspector, stated that the snooker hall had quite a few young people who frequented the establishment to play snooker, and they wanted to engage with them, to talk with them about the drug problems and try and remedy the situation.

Gibson had said the group had made five test purchases of marijuana and had sent out three cannabis warnings. The group had also done thirteen stop searches at certain anti social behavior spots. Gibson also stated: "This is really a sign of our intentions and is the first time that these particular agencies have worked together in this way across our region."


- 2008-08-15