Calls for money to tackle violent Walsall crime falling on deaf ears, claims MP

Labour's Valerie Vaz represents some of the communities experiencing issues resulting from suspected drug dealing, a shooting and a machete attack in recent weeks.

She said drastic Tory government cutbacks were to blame for many of the problems and she appealed to residents to continue passing information about criminal activity to the police.

The Walsall South MP was responding to a spate of serious incidents including a stabbing involving a man, aged 38, who was set upon, in Croft Street, Birchills, on January 24.

Residents told the Express & Star they had seen a number of incidents in the vicinity, but were too scared to report anything to the police for fear of retribution.

Miss Vaz said: "This incident is shocking but not new. Violent crime in the West Midlands has increased by over 40 per cent and I have been raising incidents including the use of firearms with the Chief Constable and local Walsall commanders for over two years.

"There have been drastic cuts to police officer numbers – 2,221 cut in the region since 2010 by Conservative governments. The Government is putting the public at risk and too many residents do not feel safe in their own neighbourhoods.

"Just as I have appealed to the police, I also appeal to local residents who may have information about these crimes to engage with local police."

The Birchills incident followed a drive by shooting days earlier across town, in Wednesbury Road, Pleck, when a man, aged 32, was twice fired on near homes and businesses on the afternoon of January 20.

The victim was not seriously hurt, but the police believe he was deliberately targeted in an attack on a business. A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the Pleck shooting.

Officers were handed special Section 60 powers covering the Bescot, Palfrey and Caldmore area - bordered by Broadway, Wednesbury Road and Birmingham Road - in a move to tackle the violent crime.

They were granted temporary extra powers four times in an eight-day period to stop and search people believed to be involved in violence – without needing reasonable grounds.

Birchills-Leamore ward representative Councillor Lee Jeavons said the spate was concerning and that residents were left have been left feeling “fear and anxiety” after a series of “unacceptable” violent incidents involving guns and knives.

In Willenhall on January 21 a shopper was stabbed after foiling would-be dog thieves armed with a machete and a hammer, believed to have targeted a goods van carrying animals outside Tesco, in Owen Road.

The man, aged in his 40s, was taken to hospital, but was not believed to have been seriously hurt.