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'Cannabis cafe' puts up the barricades
The downgrading of cannabis to a class C drug has led to a series of cannabis cafés opening across Sussex. Police have faced an uphill battle trying to close these illegal premises. Reporter Miles Godfrey visited an alleged cannabis café in Lancing raided by officers only last week and found a steely determination to defy the authorities.
10-22-`07 | The Angus | by Miles Godfrey

A cafe which police believe is being used to sell cannabis has reopened after new defences were installed.

Officers smashed their way into the building in Freshbrook Road, Lancing, on October 11 using a two-tonne tractor.

They demolished a wall as they ripped a window from its frame and allegedly caused about £20,000 damage to the building and its interior.

However in a show of defiance, the café's operators have rebuilt the wall, fortified the building and reopened for business in under five days.

The Argus gained exclusive access to the café and inspected the new defences. They include:

• Military razor wire.
  
• Reinforced steel girders used as height-restriction barriers to prevent tall vehicles gaining access.
  
• Steel posts and concretefilled tyres surrounding the building.

A spokesman for the owner, who did not want to be identified, said: "We are back up and running. We were within days of the police raid."

The people who run the café, which has also been fully repaired and redecorated inside, claimed the police's "heavyhanded"

tactics in smashing through the wall could have led to serious injuries.

One said: "We don't believe they did a proper health and safety check before the raid.

They have claimed that the building had a steel structure but it doesn't. It could have easily collapsed completely with everyone inside it.

"As it was, people did get minor injuries, bumps and bruises and one woman suffered an asthma attack. We are worried about what tactics the police are going to use next."

Those inside the building said they were horrified when officers pulled down the wall.

One said: "It was like something out of a Bruce Willis film.

Somebody could have easily been very badly hurt or even killed."

Police said they found a "quantity" of cannabis during the raid. Those at the café claim less than four grammes was discovered, an amount they said did not warrant the raid.

The spokesman said: "The police caused about £20,000 damage inside and out during the operation. They employed numerous officers, hired a tractor and for what? They only found four grammes of cannabis so what was the point?"

Officers also found £2,000 in cash on the premises during the raid. The spokesman said the money was from the till and fruit machine and the rest belonged to four different people.

A strict over-18s policy remains in force and staff said they operated a strict ban on alcohol.

The raid was the latest in a series of battles police have had with similar businesses.

Officers have carried out a series of raids across Worthing and Lancing in the last few years as outlets allegedly selling cannabis have sprung up.

Many raids have been successful but others, like the one on October 11 in Lancing, turned up only small quantities of cannabis.

In August, 2005, more than 40 police officers were involved in a dramatic siege at premises in Victoria Road, Worthing. The officers, including a dozen riot police, forced their way through two 6in-thick reinforced doors using steel-cutting welders and a battering ram.

About 30 people were marched outside after police smashed their way into the building, which subsequently closed.

There were raids at the nowclosed Quantum Leaf and Bongchuffa cannabis cafés in Rowlands Road, Worthing, in 2003. Pro-cannabis campaigner Chris Baldwin ran the Quantum Leaf café as a "political statement"

and in January, 2004, received a six-month jail sentence for supplying cannabis.

He served just over six weeks behind bars.

The alleged cannabis café in Freshbrook Road has also been raided before.

In July this year, officers smashed their way into the building using a battering ram.

However they recovered only small qualities of the drug.

Thick black smoke was spotted rising from the premises during that raid and the most recent one.

Officers believe it may have been cannabis being burnt inside but they have been unable to secure enough evidence to bring charges.

Chief Inspector Lawrence Hobbs, Adur district police commander, said police did not want to rush in. He said: "It is early days. We want to gather some evidence, seek some legal advice and listen to how the community want us to deal with it. I do not sense there's any physical threat to residents."

However, since February when police first suspected the building was being for drugsmoking, his stance has toughened significantly.

He was unapologetic about the damage and said: "There has to be recognition that these types of illegal enterprises will not be tolerated."

The latest raid was certainly the most dramatic but it may not be the last.

__________________
SWP



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