Forum Topic

Illegal Rave in Brentford all weekend?

Was anybody else effected by what I can only assume was an illegal rave all weekend in Brentford. I have been told by neighbours that it was held in a church/building that is empty and currently awaiting re-development. The music/base continued for two days and was incredibly annoying/disturbing. I phoned the police over the weekend who advised me to contact Hounslow Environmental services this morning who are looking into it as apparently the police have no power over such issues! Does anyone know anymore about this and what can be done as it will make living in Brentford miserable!

Clare Lidington ● 7445d12 Comments

Keith;For "remedy", see posting under News of the World, Gordon Brown, etc. 7.12.04 22:25:00:Check on availability of  wire cutters, all-black outfits, and balaclavas?  This could be another get-together of Brentford posters!

Ann S. Allridge ● 7441d

This rave was actually held in a warehouse down an alley next to a company called SPS at 6,Commerce Rd. I know this for a fact because(call me a boring old fart!)I actually though the 'music'was a piledriver used to sink piles into the boggy canal side earth so that buildings can safely be erected without sinking(it was left on all weekend a few months ago),so I drove down there on my way to work on Sunday morning to see if I could have a word with someone about turning it off.Lo and behold,there were dozens of youths coming out of the warehouse ,dilated pupils akimbo.I know my Dad used to say things like this,but the music I heard when I first heard it on Sat. night was exactly the same that I heard at 9.15 the Sun. morning.When I was that age,yeah we had all night parties etc.and were by no means angels or saints,but we did play more diverse and varied music.It all seems to be about primal noise and designer tribalism now to try to give life some meaning...

Keith Iddon ● 7442d

I was away Saturday and Saturday night and came back to this noise which I also initially thought were people working on the railway because it was so loud. I phoned the police on Sunday afternoon and was advised then to call the council Noise team...which very helpfully do not work on a Sunday I then had to wait until Monday to speak to someone about the matter. They informed me that because the noise was now over there was nothing they could do!

Clare Lidington ● 7443d

ClareI sympathise with you and your neighbours over the impact of this nuisance. Before anyone starts off claiming that I’m a killjoy, lets define what a rave is and what it isn’t. First and foremost, a rave is an event not authorised by an entertainment licence at which 20 or more individuals are present. It is not a private party in someone’s home or for that matter, a party in a commercial, public or private venue which would be subject to legislation designed to protect party goes and others. Clare do you happen to know if the owners or occupiers of the building in which this rave was held, were aware of, or indeed planned the rave?  Part 7 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 deals with public order and trespass. The act amends the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which related to powers in relation to outdoor raves. The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 makes both outdoor and indoor raves illegal. The act can also be used to stop those responsible for organising raves from moving onto other sites. The difficulty for the police, and something which organisers are well aware of, is that a senior police officer has to be able to justify that serious distress is being caused to non-participants of the rave. The benchmark is that three or more non-participants of the rave have to report the disturbance to the police. So the fact is that the police could have taken action if they had wanted to. The police could therefore have made arrests not only under powers arising from the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 in relation to a crime which was taking place or which had occurred but could also have also made arrests under a breach of the peace. Under a breach of the peace, no crime has to have occurred, the police officer simply has to have grounds to believe reasonable or probable cause that a crime could result. It’s a rather archaic piece of common law, pre-dating Parliament, but still has its uses when other powers of arrest are inadequate. The most notable definition of breach of the peace is ``...wherever harm is actually done or is likely to be done to a person or in his presence his property, or a person is in fear of being so harmed, through an assault, an affray, a riot, unlawful assembly or other disturbance.''In reality the police often don’t have the resources or the will to attend to reports of raves, which could contain hundreds of ravers, even when serious distress or criminal damage has resulted. Then again, a senior police officer has to consider that if by taking action against a rave, a wider public order incident may arise, potentially making matters worse. Case in point being the sad case of George Crook, a landowner, the story of which can be seen at: http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/01/03/nrave03.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/01/03/ixhome.html or that of David Benton, also a landowner which can be seen at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2C3604%2C626902%2C00.html Finally, when did the rave start and when did it finish? I believe that Hounslow has a Noise Team available from Friday night from 10pm through to 4am on Saturday morning and again from Saturday night from 10pm through to 4am on Sunday morning. Why the police suggested to you that you should wait until Monday morning to contact Environmental Health is beyond me. 

Gareth Evans ● 7443d

Vanessa,Correction:Ignore reference to Coalyards thread, I should have said "News of the World, Gordon Brown, etc."

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

See 'Coalyards near Kew bridge Steam Museum' for possible Sylvester Stallone/Arnie type attack on warehouse.....

Ann S. Allridge ● 7444d

...like the council could/would DO ANYTHING!!!.....quite simply the police should have the power to act, full stop.Incidently, my wife said it was a party....but the noise was so dreadful, ...I thought someone was working on the railway !!

Nick Jenkins ● 7444d

I live just off Church Road behind the Butts and I now believe the noise  was coming from a building on Commerce Road. I spent most of Sunday trying to chase the right people regarding this matter because it was AWFUL it was so unbearable I had to spend the afternoon at the cinema just to escape the noise. According to the Met Police officer I spoke to on Sunday they are unable to act on this kind of matter, they directed me to the offices of Hounslow Enviromental Services which they assured me would be open on a Sunday. However as I suspected they're closed on a Sunday due to lack of funding. Mr Saunders from the Council phoned me back on Monday to let me know that they're now unable to act on the problem because it no longer exists ie the Rave is over...and they couldn't do anything about it over the weekend because their offices are closed. He also said that he'd had only a handful of complaints about the matter probably becasue most people gave up trying to find the right person to contact. I'm incredibly angry and dissapointed at Brentford Police, the council and being held for hours trying to get through to a Metropoliton Police call Centre. It would seem that there's no way of getting these raves stopped and I hope the residence of Brentford don't mind saying goodbye to peace and quiet because with lots of building empty ready for re-development we're going to experience quite a few more noisy weekends... RANT OVER

Clare Lidington ● 7444d

Ah....so thats what it was!....nightmare deep base noise all night....heard in Church Walk (near Station)

Nick Jenkins ● 7444d

Clare: which part of Brentford was the disturbance located?Somewhere near the St Lawrences Church..west end of the High Street?I would imagine that many complaints would have been made to the Authorities.

Jim Lawes ● 7445d

Clare Did the police explain to you why in their opinion they had no powers over such issues?

Gareth Evans ● 7445d

Did you call the Met a Police force so moribound by PC(that's Political Correctness) that frankly  is as ineffectual as the Bagdad police (who at least have some guts)a Police force Presisided over by Mr Blunkett , who for all of our good wishe's has past his use by date.The Met is but  pale shadow of years gone by and apparently is living on it's reputation, they are well intentioned beings and indeed brave souls, flogging a dead political horse, nick the motorist raise the revenue , easy money for their masters , frankly the press of late about Scotland Yard and their investigations , can only lead to the view  that they are pretty hopeless , and the only Crims who it seems should be concerned  by their efforts are the drivers and illegal parkers and Jay walkers(assuming of course those mundane functions have not  been farmed out  , whilst of course the Russian and East Euro Mafia and various other elements, plus the Nigerian Scammers and ,I gather Uncle Don Cobbliosa and all ;have a field day.So do not not bother calling them about loud noise , unless of course it is close to their station and is keeping them awake, frankly I was amazed that the Met has not one Police federation but about 10 , which I feel sure includes a Pitcairn Island Police officers federation(only 1 Seconded from the Met,  a Women PC of late, and look what happended there, to a tribal society which some idiot from the Metropolitan Police force decided to enforce UK laws on  , Question , why did not all of those other MET officers  stationed there over many years apply the same Law , please bear in mind these people are a tribe of natives , if you look at the footage you will clearly see that the UK as done little  on Pitcairn ,, and quite clearly would get shot of the place quicker than the Falklands, if and when it suits our Tony, which might be pretty soon , cos if they all( the Guilty) get put in the slammer , the rest of the inhabitants will have to leave , amazing. Game , set . and match, that will save Her Majesties Goverment 2 hundred thou a year which can  go towards paying Mp's pensions as opposed to the workers pensions which the Country cannot afford(according to papers I read)

Michael D Giddings ● 7445d