When I first moved into my flat several years ago junkies and other neds would gather outside my window after dark. Occasionally they'd knock on the glass, apparently expecting some kind of reaction. Sometimes they just hung around chatting in subdued tones on the street. The previous tenant was a man called Kyle. I never met Kyle but found out from a neighbour that he was taking psychiatric medication. He had severe mental health problems caused by a chronic drug addiction which had resulted in paranoia, manic schizophrenia and other related conditions. The gang had completely taken over Kyle's life. They would bully him into giving up his welfare benefits and his medication (which they then cut with other substances to make what's known as Street Valium ). Apparently Kyle went through such hell on an almost daily basis. Eventually rescued and rehoused elsewhere by the local authority's social services department, Kyl...