Africa-Press – Gambia. Residents in Leeds’ most burgled area, according to police records, have spoken of the neighbourhood’s “unspoken laws” and bad reputation.
Police neighbourhood crime figures identified Gipton as the residential area in Leeds with the highest burglary rates. The survey recorded burglary rates from 2020 to 2021.The survey found Leeds had the most burglaries throughout Yorkshire, with 330 reported during the year in total across the city. A 52-year-old resident, who didn’t want to be identified, has said there are a series of unspoken rules in Gipton.
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The man has lived in Gipton his whole life and says he developed a series of streetwise traits while scrap collecting, which he says he did legitimately by asking home owners in the neighbourhood.
He said: “You don’t rob off your own, you don’t rob from your own manor. It’s the unspoken rule in Gipton. You also don’t tolerate racism.”
The 52-year-old added there was “hundreds more” that people live by in the area. But not all residents agree.
Malcolm Costigan, 68, spoke about the “terrible” time his house got burgled and admitted his wife has never felt the same since, the whole incident frightened her so badly.He said: “We’ve been broken into and it was terrible. We weren’t in at the time but it’s the thought of someone being in there.
“My wife was never the same after that. She was very frightened.
“They took what they could and we didn’t have much anyway. They took the television, they went through all the bedrooms and took my wife’s jewellery. My daughter was working on a cruise ship for a while, she brought a man back and he’d bought her bracelet and a ring. She was very very upset about them.”Although he believes Gipton gets a bad rap. He said: “Years ago there used to be a Gipton Police Station. It covered Seacroft, Swarcliffe, every crime was filed as Gipton, Gipton, Gipton as it was covered under the jurisdiction of Gipton Police Station.
“Gipton got a bad name and it has never really recovered from it. There’s an old saying ‘live and let live’, and that’s what I like to think.”
Francis Gomez, 24, who is originally from Gambia and is studying business at college, says he believes Gipton is like “heaven” compared to his native country.He said: “This is heaven because there are resources everywhere. There’s shops! In Gambia we had markets and they’re not as clean as say Morrisons. It’s not a rich area but still, it’s good.
“I just see bikers around. For me it’s very nice, I go to the shop, do what I want to do. You need to ‘stay in your lane,’ as they say. It’s a safe place.”
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