At night it's just wild... all the crackheads come out

On the estate where a child died in a tragedy that rocked Britain and led to a change in the law, residents still feel they aren't safe because of crime and anti-social behaviour

-  Stephen Topping

IT'S the estate where an unthinkable tragedy rocked the nation and led to a much-needed law change. But there's another problem that has gripped Freehold in recent years.

The Rochdale estate became the focus of national attention following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak. Widespread issues of damp and mould on the estate, damaging the health of vulnerable young children, were uncovered by the Manchester Evening News.

An inquest heard that Awaab's parents pleaded for help to resolve the issue before his death, following prolonged exposure to mould. It led to a successful campaign to protect lives in future and sweeping changes at the housing association which runs the estate.

Yet Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) now finds itself battling another problem which is leaving some of its tenants fearful for themselves and their children.

An operation has been launched to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour which has plagued the estate.

Working with Greater Manchester Police, the project - known as Operation Affect has seen drug dens closed, weapons seized and 36 suspects arrested in recent months. But the issues Op Affect are trying to resolve have been rumbling on for a while.

The M.E.N. has spoken to residents at Freehold on several occasions since 2022. While the focus back then was on damp, mould and disrepair, the conversation regularly turned to issues of crime and antisocial behaviour, as stories of violence and complaints of anti-social behaviour came up time and again.

"This estate gets to you," one woman told the M.E.N. on her doorstep. Aged 25 at the time, she spoke of damp issues she had been grappling with, which led to workers installing a new extractor fan.

But it was another issue that was at the front of her mind. She claimed that, weeks earlier, a friend who also lived on the estate had been attacked by a group of teenagers.