C17 gang leader re-banned from parts of Thurrock including Lakeside

Roland Douherty has been made the subject of a new injunction

The leader of a drug-dealing gang, which has been linked to violence and anti-social behaviour in Thurrock, has been re-banned from parts of the borough.

An injunction has been granted by Chelmsford County Court against Roland Douherty, after a previous order expired.

The 20-year-old is not allowed in the following places:

• Grays town park
• Grays town centre
• Lakeside shopping centre and retail park
• Chafford Hundred and Grays railway stations
• Seabrook Rise in Grays
• Grays Beach Riverside Park
• Dilkes Park, Broxburn Parade, and Derwent Parade shopping and residential area in South Ockendon

Douherty, of Abersham Road, Dalston, is part of the so-called C17 gang. 

In September 2018, Essex Police and Thurrock Council successfully applied for an injunction to limit their activities in Thurrock, which included grooming young children into the gang and using them to transport drugs, carry weapons, and cash raised from the sale of drugs.

Since then, several of the members who were subject to the ban have left the gang. 

On top of being banned from the above places, Douherty is not allowed to:

• Associate with a list of people in public, unless with police authorisation or for court appearances
• Be friends with, associate with, or send messages to any member of this list on social media
• Feature in, or make any video inciting violence or promoting criminal activity
• Be in a group of two or more in a public place where the group is behaving in a manner causing or likely to cause any person to feel intimidated or fear for their safety
• Possess any type of firearm or imitation firearm
• Possess any knife or bladed article in a public place
• Possess controlled drugs or drug paraphernalia
• Possess more than £100 in cash
• Run away from a police officer when requested to stop
• Own, use, or possess any mobile phone or SIM card which has not been disclosed to the police
• Fail to make any mobile phone, SIM card, PINs, or passcodes available on request for inspection by the police

If Douherty does not comply with these conditions, he faces fines, imprisonment, and seizure of any assets.

PC Jonathan Kemp said: “In the last two years we have successfully reduced the harmful impact the C17 gang were having on the Grays and Thurrock area.

“A number of members of the gang who were subject to the original injunction have moved away or engaged positively with the Youth Offending Service.

“Douherty has, unfortunately, failed to learn the lessons of the last two years and, as such, will remain the subject of an interim injunction which will help us continue to stop him from causing harm and committing crime in the community.

“Over the past two years, we have worked with our partners at Thurrock Council and with members of the community to ensure this gang were unable to continue dealing drugs, perpetrating violence, and making life a misery for residents.

“We will continue to do all we can to ensure that we do whatever it takes, however long it takes, to stop them and others like them from committing crime on the streets of our county.”

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