‘Needle on the doorstep’: Anti-social behaviour complaints in Rosewater soar 900 per cent

On Saturday, a Rosewater man and his mother were allegedly murdered by a neighbour. Now residents are talking about feeling unsafe in the area, with data showing anti-social complaints have soared.

Mother of three Sarah* said her family had to step over a used syringe on their doorstep the first time they went inside their Rosewater Housing Trust home.

Her story comes as data reveals complaints of anti-social behaviour skyrocketed by 900 per cent in the past decade in the suburb where a man is accused of the murder of two of his neighbours.

Sarah, 41, moved into her Rosewater home in 2018 with her three young children now aged 17, 10 and 8.

“When we moved in, there was a needle on the front door step and my kids didn’t want to move in,” she told The Advertiser.

“My neighbours told me the people who used to live there were using the house to use drugs.

“When you get given a housing trust, you have to check out the house and then accept it and I was really close to not accepting it.”

Police talk to neighbours near where the 76-year-old woman and 55-year-old man were allegedly murdered in their home. Picture: Brenton Edwards

But she said providing a home for her children outweighed her concerns – but says many in her neighbourhood feel unsafe.

The Rosewater mother said she is part of a closed Facebook group, where residents in the neighbourhood help each other stay safe.

Homeowner Anna Das, 34, moved to Rosewater a year ago with her partner and mother after living in Prospect, where she said “nothing like this had ever happened before”.

After Saturday’s events, which occurred just 100m from her home, she told The Advertiser they would be double-checking the roller-shutters every night before going to bed.

“My family is really worried to go out now, especially at night,” Ms Das said, adding that she planned to install CCTV cameras.

“Sometimes we would get people walking up and down the street making noise, or I found a beer bottle on my lawn, but nothing like this before.

“It was really surprising.”

Retiree Phil Jansson, 65, who has lived in a housing trust unit on Rosetta St for 25 years, also said he “wouldn’t expect something like this to happen” in the neighbourhood.

“We’re proud to live in the area,” he said.

“It used to be pretty rough about 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s gotten better now.

“You’ll find a lot of people who respect the area, but it’s just a few houses everyone avoids.”

Public housing troublemakers spark more than 130 anti-social behaviour complaints a week on average, official figures show.

The data released under Freedom of Information laws late last year reveals almost 65,000 Housing Trust complaints were recorded over the past decade amid a sharp spike in the past year.

In Rosewater where Steve Tozer, 55, and Antoinette Tozer, 76, were allegedly murdered by a 43-year-old man on Saturday morning, complaints have soared.

In 2022/23 there were 70 complaints – an increase of 900 per cent since 2013/14.

A government spokesman attributed the “significant increase” in complaints to a new online reporting option, which was introduced in 2019.

“The vast majority of complaints recorded in recent years were minor and moderate, including noise complaints,” they said in a statement.

“Housing SA investigates all complaints of anti-social behaviour and encourages people to come forward with their concerns so they can be addressed appropriately.”

* Sarah is not her real name