Westminster Cathedral has downplayed reports that its environs are getting used by an emerging criminal underclass as a marketplace for illegal drugs.
The cathedral is the spiritual centre of Roman Catholicism in Britain, serving because the seat of Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
However, a report by the Daily Mail claims that vagrants and drug dealers are using the grounds across the cathedral, and even the cathedral itself to conduct drug deals.
As well as possibly witnessing illegal transactions, Mail reporters spoke to a personal security officer who patrols the realm.
The officer told them, “There are deals occurring contained in the cathedral, within the pews and within the quiet side-chapels too.
“That’s just because we’ve a presence on the streets now – together with Police Community Support Officers – which makes it harder to deal outside.”
Another officer said that the police had arrested three of the first drug dealers responsible, but that the courts keep releasing them, allowing them to proceed their trade.
The increase in drug use across the vicinity of the cathedral has apparently had an impact on each local residents and worshippers, who the Mail claims, have lamented the “desecration” going down on an increasingly regular basis.
One parishioner, Ethal Bram, 79, told the Mail she “would not be surprised within the slightest” if drugs were being traded inside the cathedral.
“I’ve seen people walking as much as the altar and shouting down the microphone … I’ve seen people walk within the church just aimlessly wandering. Not sure what they’re doing but again I would not be surprised if it was drug-related. It is gloomy since it is a spot of reverence,” she said.
Locals have also told of an alarming increase within the variety of vagrants and rough sleepers in the realm, including some who apparently arrived within the country lower than a 12 months ago.
Westminster Cathedral nevertheless has downplayed the report, saying there had been “no direct reports of drug-dealing” inside the constructing. It told the Mail it “takes seriously any allegation of drug dealing inside its premises and urges anyone who witnesses such activity to report it immediately to our security team or the police”.
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