A quiet commuter town is being taken over by warring gangs of dealers who are leaving locals ‘too scared to go out at night’, it is claimed. Drug mules are making near-daily round trips between and Swindon which has seen an explosion in and gun . Locals say the once-peaceful town, more famed for its iconic ‘magic roundabout’ than violent turf wars, has seen youngsters groomed by ruthless gang leaders into becoming drug runners for organised criminal groups.
One man, so fearful of his life that he did not wish to be named, told the : “Almost every drug deal done in this town now is off the back of county lines. “The way they work is they find young people living here - the more vulnerable or desperate, the better - and groom them, bribe them with money and free drugs, make them promises, threaten them, whatever they have to do to allow the drug runners to live in their homes and use them as a base. “It is going on in literally hundreds of houses and flats throughout the town and no one is doing anything about it.
If anyone does, the knives, and even guns, come out and they are threatened, or worse.” Last year, the town was rocked by the murder of Owen Dunn, who was knifed to death in Penhill. His killers claimed they were acting in self defence, but they convicted them of murder.
Bristol Crown Court heard Owen was also carrying a weapon, which was later found by paramedics. One of his killers, Tyler Hunt, was from Park South, which along with Park North and Pin.
