GLASGOW SET TO SHOW DEALERS THE DOOR

THE death of Scotland's youngest heroin victim could prompt attempts to
speed up the eviction of drug dealers in Glasgow.

Pushers can already be forced out of their council homes if convicted of
dealing drugs but, under changes being discussed after the death of Allan
Harper, 13, tenants found guilty of any drugs-related offence could face
eviction.

Police, tenants and council officials will today hold talks called to
discuss ways of combating drugs in Cranhill where Allan died of an overdose
three weeks ago. His death has prompted a stream of anonymous tip-offs to
the police and 39 drugs suspects, including 25 alleged dealers, have been
arrested.

The city councillor for Cranhill, Gaille McCann, who used to live near the
dead boy's family in Bellrock Court, said many people living on the estate
felt his death was a watershed.

"It has made a lot of people, myself included, stop and think about exactly
what is happening to our communities. We can't just stand back as our
children die," she said. "We have to be honest enough to say that whatever
we have been doing about drugs has not worked and look at everything again.
We do not have a lot of time to find answers."

Mrs McCann, who called today's meeting, confirmed that housing officials
would attend the talks in Easterhouse and that "fast-track" procedures
already in place to deal with tenants convicted of drugs-related offences
would be reviewed.

"We will look at what kind of convictions can trigger eviction. For
whatever reason, some well-known dealers are never convicted and perhaps
there is another way of taking action against them. Perhaps conviction for
a lesser charge, like possession, could be enough to start the process,"
she said.

The council, working with the police and the procurator-fiscal, has started
pilot schemes in two areas intended to ensure that convicted dealers and
other tenants convicted of anti-social behaviour are taken to court as
quickly as possible to help speed up their subsequent eviction.

The council housing convener, James McCarron, conceded that the process of
criminal prosecution and subsequent appeals against eviction could still
take too long, particularly for neighbours of suspected dealers, but warned
that a courtroom conviction had to remain the foundation for any action by
the council.

"There is no greater priority than trying to tackle the scourge of drugs in
our communities but, as a council, we cannot act on hearsay no matter how
compelling," he said. "There has to be evidence leading to a conviction in
court before we can evict. What we have to do is ensure that the whole
process takes as little time as possible."

Allan, who was buried on Friday, died of an overdose in the flat of his
mother's boyfriend, Stephen Young, near his home in the east of the city.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with his death.

* A teenager has been found dead in a flat in Fraserburgh in what police
believe is a drug-related death. The body of Stephen Buchan, 17, was found
on Saturday morning.