A POLICE presence has been established at a house in Paganhill following the launch of a murder investigation.
A patrol car is parked outside a bungalow in Archway Gardens with police closure order notices on the door and windows of the property.
The order prevents anyone but the occupier and authorities from remaining on the property.
Neighbours have spoken out about their belief that vulnerable people are being targeted by drug dealers, suggesting there was cuckooing – where the home of a vulnerable person is taken over to sell drugs – going on in the area.
Gloucestershire police are continuing to question a woman on suspicion of murder after a man died following the suspected robbery of his mobility scooter.
She was detained following the incident on Sunday morning at Tesco superstore on Stratford Road in Stroud.
The man, who was in his 60s, was found unresponsive in the car park of the store and taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where he later died.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire police confirmed there is a police presence at the address which relates to the murder investigation.
“We can’t give you specific information on how it relates to the case at this time though,” they said.
Meanwhile neighbours have reacted with shock and surprise to the murder.
One resident said: “I would see him in Tesco. He was harmless and a bit immobile.
“People are quite shocked and people knew him around here.”
A neighbour, who lived in the same row of bungalows, talked about cuckooing in relation to the victim.
“I knew him vaguely. I think he kept himself to himself quite a lot,” he said.
“There were lots of police here, but they didn’t want to discuss it with me.
“There are a lot of vulnerable people living round here and it takes something like this to force the authorities’ eyes on vulnerable people.
“There’s cuckooing going on and I have seen the cars pulling up. They are not service providers or carers or relatives.
“I had a drug addict come in here but I told them they had the wrong house.
“I have only lived here for a few months, and I have never seen so many police.
“They (were) dragging someone out of the flats the other day and raiding the house at the end.”
Police have been granted an additional 36 hours to question the 40-year-old suspect on suspicion of murder and robbery.
The four-wheeled scooter was found abandoned by a member of the public on Bisley Old Road.
Police are appealing for information from anyone who saw the mobility scooter being used in the Paganhill area of the town between around 2am and 4am on Sunday.
A police spokesman said magistrates had granted an additional period of 36 hours to question the woman.
“The Major Crime Investigation Team is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and anyone with information which could assist is asked to contact police,” a spokesman said.
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