SHOW DEALERS ZERO TOLERANCE SAYS MAYOR

THE Mayor of Witham, whose stepbrother died from a heroin overdose, has
called for zero tolerance to be shown to drug dealers in the town.

Mayor Tom Hewitt made the plea on the second anniversary of the death of
his 32-year-old stepbrother, Terry.

He said Witham was not suffering a drugs epidemic but the problem was
growing and should be stamped Out.

He called for a zero tolerance attitude to be adopted by the police and
Braintree Council in regard to its tenants and urged residents to tell the
authorities if they suspected someone was dealing drugs.

Mr Hewitt said: I think Terry was taking drugs for years without anyone
suspecting something about it. It may not have been from a dealer selling
it in large quantities but from a small supplier.

"But it does not matter if someone is peddling hard drugs they may as well
be selling firearms.

"I don't know how many years he suffered before Terry died."

He added: "I don't want to scare people. There is not a huge problem in
Witham and in comparison to Chelmsford or Colchester, it is probably very
minimal.

"But if someone is selling to two youngsters each week then that's two too
many."

Mr Hewitt claims to know about at least five other deaths in Witham from
drugs-related incidents.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Essex Police support any policy or
practice which undermines the position of those involved in drug dealing,
whether on a large or small scale.

"We will continue our policy of intelligence-led policing, targeting
resources to produce effective result."