There has been widespread condemnation and dismay over an article which appeared recently in the Evening Standard which claims that there is widespread drug dealing in local schools.

The article was based on the claims of an Ealing based 18 year old youth named as 'Shylo' who boasts that he makes £500,000 per annum by dealing drugs and guns to mainly private schools across West London. The paper features a picture of him and an associate with their faces obscured by hooded sweatshirt tops.

Iraninan born Shylo who also claims to own a Mercedes convertible reportedly played a tape to an Evening Standard journalist purported to show a pupil at Harrow School ordering a gun from him. The youth claims to have charged £150 for a 'hot' weapon that had been used in another crime.

The report published claims that Shylo's gang targeted fee-paying schools across West London. He himself was educated at private school but the Standard does not reveal which one. As well as Harrow, St. Benedict's, St. Paul's, Westminster and Latymer Upper were named. Shylo showed the reporteer a photo of a group which included boys in St. Benedict's uniform and he claimed that they worked for him distributing drugs.

Following the publication of the report parents at St. Benedict's receiving a letter from headmaster Charles Cleugh saying that any pupil involved in drug dealing would be expelled and that the school had contacted the Evening Standard to see if they would provide a copy of the alleged photograph.

A current pupil at St. Benedict's contacted us to say, "There is a lot of resentment in the school that the Evening Standard has published a story based on the word of a drug dealer. There isn't an active drugs culture here and there certainly are not twenty people dealing drugs around the school for this fantasy merchant."

The article does quote police sources which the Standard claims verify that Shylo is actively involved in drug dealing in the area. EalingToday.co.uk asked Ealing Police whether or not it is credible that an 18 year old could make £500,000 a year dealing drugs in the area but they have yet to respond to our question.

A parent with a teenage child at another Ealing school sent us an e-mail saying, "Although the article may be exaggerated there is a danger of complacency from both the schools and the police. My impression is that the police are very target orientated these days but little account is given of the relevant severity of crimes and the headline number is all that matters. Catching a drug dealer who targets school means only solving one crime ."

New Borough Commander is pledged to decrease crime in the borough by 20% The latest figures for Ealing Borough show that crime is falling overall but violent crime is on the increase.