By Peter Makossah
Youth delinquency is on the rise in Nottingham with scores of teenage criminals sent prison for either drug dealing, burglary, motor vehicle theft, fraud, and knife crime among other felonious activities in the recent months.
In the past few months many teenagers have been jailed in the city and just recently the Nottingham Crown Court locked up an 18-year-old prolific burglar, who broke into four houses and stole five motor vehicles, to 45 months in detention.
Earlier this week the Nottingham Crown Court jailed another teenager, London-based Keanu Mckoy, a drug-dealer, to three years imprisonment after being caught with a large amount of crack cocaine and a dangerous weapon after being stopped in the street by police.
Mckoy, of Wolseley Road, Mitcham, London, appeared before Nottingham Crown Court on last Monday and pleaded guilty to all the charges levelled against him.
Mckoy, a member of the Black and Minority ethnic (MBE) group was arrested and subsequently charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of a knife in a public place.
A lot of black teenagers have in the recent times been involved in criminal activities such as drug dealing and knife crime among others compared to other ethnic groups.
Police in Nottingham last week engaged about 150 young people of black ethnicity at black led church in Lenton to gain their trust and instil confidence in them while at the same time allow them to express themselves on how they feel about the police.
Detective Constable Laura Price, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As Mckoy found out to his cost, Nottinghamshire Police simply won’t tolerate drugs being dealt on our streets”.
“Cracking down on those trying to flood our communities with drugs is one of our top priorities as a force because we know how much damage this activity can cause”.
“Thanks to the officers involved in this arrest we were able to seize 137 wraps of crack cocaine, whilst also taking a dangerous knife out of harm’s way”.
Operation Reacher and Response Officers were preparing to arrest Keanu Mckoy for a separate offence when they spotted the suspect in Heaton Close, St Ann’s.
The 19-year-old was detained at the roadside and admitted to having drugs and a large knife on him seconds later.
Sure enough, a total of 137 individual wraps of crack cocaine were found in his possession and a knife was also discovered tucked into his waistband.
A further search led to a roll of cash and three mobile phones being seized from Mckoy during the stop on 19 January 2023.
“It should go without saying but carrying a weapon of this kind in public is against the law and is never acceptable.”
“Cracking down on those trying to flood our communities with drugs is one of our top priorities as a force because we know how much damage this activity can cause.”
Detective Constable Laura Price
Nottinghamshire Police
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