Kennington News

SOUTH London's Rasta community have demanded a public inquiry into the high-profile drugs raid on their temple.

The call was made at a stormy public meeting held to thrash out the issues surrounding April's controversial bust in St Agnes Place,Kennington.

Police were accused of trashing the Rasta's sacred place of worship, using excessive force and ramping up intelligence to justify the raid.

But Superintendent Alistair Sutherland, the officer who asked for the raid's warrant, defended the operation.

He said: "As a borough we were proud to have the headquarters of the Rastafarian community in our area.

"But there is a forgotten community living near there who are able to live different lives now.

"This is not about one community marginalising the other it is about making Lambeth a safer place for everyone.

"There is not just one community here and out on the streets there are many people who are very happy the raid took place.

"Would I have done it again? Yes, I would have done it again."

The early morning raid on April 12 was launched after months of 24-hour surveillance, intelligence-gathering and risk assessments.

Cops carried out the raid after collecting intelligence that class-A drugs were being sold there.

But after the raid Lambeth police were refused an order to shut down the temple because no class-A drugs were found during the search.

The Met was ordered to pay £8,000 in legal compensation.

Since the closure, police figures show recorded crime around St Agnes Place has plummeted by 52 per cent.

Supt Sutherland denied accusations a taser stun gun had been fired three times at a suspect while he had already been restrained.

He said no official complaint had been made about the incident. Sister Wolete Gabreal, a member of the temple's governing committee, said: "We feel like our reputation has been criminalised.

"We had members around the world wanting to know what was going on here.

"Remember, this is the UK headquarters of the Rastafarian movement and they thought it was full of drugs.

Former Mayor of Lambeth Lloyd Leon said: "I want to make it quite clear that to the best of my knowledge there are no more criminals in the Rasta community

than in any other part of the community. They are a peace-loving people.

"Everybody knows the Rastas use a bit of ganja but the force used was excessive."

A petition calling for a public inquiry into the handling of the raid will be presented at the next Community Police Consultative Group meeting on July 3 in Lambeth Town Hall.