Darlaston Police Station sale 'should fund more officers on the streets'
A quarter of a million pounds raised by selling Darlaston’s former police station should be put back into the town to fight crime, a councillor has said.
The Victorian building, in Crescent Road, is going under the hammer in September with a guide price of £250,000 with calls for the money to be ploughed into tackling knife crime, drugs and speeding when the site is sold.
The news comes days after 21-year-old Shane Mayer died after being stabbed outside Gabba's Bar, the old Herbert's Park Tavern, at around 11pm on Wednesday.
Mr Mayer, from Wolverhampton, was stabbed in the leg during a fight last Wednesday and died from his injuries in hospital on Saturday.
Two men, both aged 18, were arrested over the weekend on suspicion of murder – one has been released on police bail and the other has been released without charge.
A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder has been released on police bail.
A 21-year-old man who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of affray has been released while inquiries continue.
Darlaston South Councillor Doug James said: “We’ve had several incidents of violent crime this year, only this last week we’ve had a fatality.
"Are West Midlands Police returning the £250,000 to our local community? It closed totally two years ago, it’s a £250,000 community asset. The closure had a large impact on our community.
“The community has been demanding additional police resources all the time since I’ve been a councillor, over 10 years.
“Police need to look at speeding cars as we’ve had a number of fatalities, knife crime and drug problems.”
The former police station will appear in Bond Wolfe Auctions’ next sale on September 10 at 10.30am at Aston Villa FC.
The Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner, Waheed Saleem, said: “The plan, which will see the closure of some police stations, will save £5 million a year in running costs alone.
"I can reassure people that the money saved will be ploughed straight back into frontline policing.”
Huge effort against knife crime
Chief Superintendent Andy Parsons, commander at Walsall Police, has spoken out in the wake of a fatal stabbing in Darlaston.
He said officers across Walsall were making a “huge amount of effort” to deter people from carrying knives but wanted to see more action to combat the issue.
It comes after Shane Mayer, from Wolverhampton, was stabbed in the leg during a fight in Forge Road and died in hospital. Chief Supt Parsons said: “A tragic and senseless loss of life.
“There is a huge amount of effort across the whole partnership in Walsall to stop people carrying knives but we all need to do more and do better.”
A fundraising page has raised more than £2,500 towards the 21-year-old’s funeral costs.
