COPS smashed their way into a woman’s house looking for a suspected drug dealer – who had moved out two years ago.
Officers on an operation investigating Huddersfield’s class ‘A’ drugs trade broke down the door of Naomi Tikva’s house on Sycamore Avenue in Golcar while she was at work in Huddersfield town centre.
They searched the property looking for the former tenant before discovering a letter that showed Naomi was the current occupier.
After boarding up the front doorway and leaving the door lying in the hall they left. Naomi was later told she’d have to replace the door then invoice the police for the bill.
Naomi, 25, has been the sole occupier of the house for six months.
She said: “It’s absolutely devastating. I don’t have the money to pay upfront for a new door.
“The woman who they were looking for hasn’t been here for two years.
“It wouldn’t take much to find out that I’m the person who lives here now – I pay my council tax and all the bills are addressed to me.”
The incident happened at about 7.30am on Tuesday – just minutes after Naomi had left for her job in the redundancy team at the Department for Work and Pensions.
She received a call from her boyfriend, Adam Vickers, about what had happened at about 8.15am.
Naomi left her office and did not go back to work yesterday.
“I can’t leave the house empty without a door,” she said.
“I stayed up most of the night. I tried to sleep but it’s a bit scary when you’ve just got a board there.”
She said her two dogs, including a puppy, were at home at the time of the raid and had been left shaken by the incident.
West Yorkshire Police have apologised.
A police spokesman said: “Officers attended the address as part of ongoing investigations into a number of suspects surrounding class ‘A’ drugs.
“Checks are made prior to any operation and are based on intelligence gathered. However, on this occasion, the target had moved on from the property.
“A senior officer personally visited the occupant yesterday to apologise for any distress caused and will be working with them over repair to any damage.”
The officer turned up at Naomi’s house yesterday with a bunch of flowers addressed to ‘Laura’.
“It just adds insult to injury that they still don’t know my name,” she said.
