Lambeth Council claim Rastafarian temple after botched police raid

The Rastafarian temple in St Agnes Place, south London was raided by police at approximately 3am on 12 April 2007. Around 250 officers including over 100 armed officers with stun grenades raided the temple in Kennington which has been home to the Rastafarian community for 30 years. Despite the police raid instigated in conjunction with Lambeth Council and the subsequent false information disseminated in the media, it later emerged that far from the ‘drug den’ and ‘crack house’ the police has initially claimed. A ruling at Camberwell Green Magistrates ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the Temple, which was used as a place of worship for the Rasta community, was being used to facilitate a hive of class A drug dealing and a hub for violent criminals. The Temple's chaplain Seymour Mclean, said that the Temple offered sanctuary to many young men who needed guidance and support. He said: “There are lots of boys who are rebels without a cause here. They might steal cars and get into trouble. But we offer them another way here. We can channel the boys' anger and we preach peace to them."

At the time of the raid Lambeth borough commander, Chief Superintendent Martin Bridger postured that he had "never seen that level of drug dealing" in his 30 years' experience. He went on to falsely claim "[w]e have had 600 people per day going to these premises on a regular basis believed to be... buying drugs. Of the people that were stopped by police 80% had drugs with them… There were 32 rooms and these were split according to what drugs you were selling. You went to one room, you got cannabis, you went to another room, you got crack. Some of these people were people of particular violence and there was intelligence that they had the protection of firearms." A Scotland Yard spokesman said "We do not know if this is Britain's biggest drugs raid, but it is a significant operation”.

The severity of the unfounded claims levelled at the temple exposed the political agenda of some media institutions who were quick to declare the Rastafarian community were guilty until proved innocent. The headlines that adorned the newspapers included; “Police smash huge drugs centre in raid on Rasta temple” (The Guardian, 13 April 2007) and “Police raid Rasta 'temple' taken over by Yardies” (Daily Mail, 13 April 2007). The articles that followed labelled the Temple a “huge crack den” where “scores of "drug tourists" from all over the Capital flocked”. 23 people were arrested as a result of the raid including a number of Elders and people with disabilities. Of those arrested, three were charged with conspiracy to supply a class C drug. The police have been criticised for the extensive money, time and resources used in an operation that utilised 250 officers and extensive on-going surveillance and concluded in the arrest of 3 people for intending to supply cannabis.

Following the raid, Lambeth Council took control of the Temple building, a move they had attempted repeatedly over the years. Regular Temple attendee, Derick Clark highlighted the Council’s motivation behind the raid of the Temple: "The council has been after these houses for years. They're looking for an excuse to close us down and move us on." In 2005, Lambeth Council and the police colluded to evict 150 squatters from a number of houses in the same street as the Temple. The buildings were later knocked down to make way for new housing developments and a sports centre.