Pubdate: Tue, 02 Apr 2013
Source: Evening Standard (London, UK)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/914
Authors: Lindsay Watling and Justin Davenport
Page: 27

'POLICE RAIDED MY HOUSE FOR DRUGS BECAUSE IT HAD HOT ROOF'

A JOURNALIST whose house was raided by police because it had a "hot 
roof " has lodged a formal complaint after being wrongly targeted.

Kris Sangani's Leytonstone home was searched by officers acting on 
information that the roof was emitting unusually high levels of heat 
- - a sign of a cannabis farm.

Officers, who carried out the raid as part of a Met crackdown on drug 
dealers, found nothing and told him they would not be making any 
further enquiries, but did not apologise.

The 38-year-old investigative reporter, whose new lodger was alone in 
the property at the time, said he was appalled the police had been 
allowed to take such extreme action on the basis of so little evidence.

Mr Sangani added: "When the lodger opened the door, immediately seven 
police officers barged past and went upstairs. Two others pushed him 
into the living room area.

"Surely they can't just go in on that information alone? Yes, a hot 
roof is one of the tell-tale signs but you are supposed to have 
corroborating evidence. The whole experience has made me feel like a 
criminal. I have just been round to both my neighbours and had to 
apologise to them. One has young children. Can you imagine how 
frightening that must have been?"

The Met said addresses were targeted after tip-offs from the public. 
However, it is also known to use helicopter thermal imaging equipment 
to spot the "white heat" given off by the lights needed to grow 
cannabis plants.

A Met spokesman confirmed it had received a complaint from a landlord 
in Leytonstone. He said the warrant for the search had been obtained 
from a magistrate based on more than one "tried and trusted 
intelligence gathering technique". "Such techniques have been used 
previously and will have contributed to 34 cannabis farms closed," 
the spokesman added. "No damage was caused at the address, but in 
this instance nothing illegal was found. The complaint was 
subsequently received and officers explained the legal process of the 
warrant and its execution. The complaint has not been upheld."
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